Lesson I Words?


PREFIXES 1
If you see the Prefix  Pre- , it means "coming before." In that word "prefix", it means you "fix" (fasten or attach) letters before the basic  word. Here are some others. We'll look at Prefixes about Time, Place, and Size in this lesson.

TIME

pre + view = preview (to see something before others do
pre + pay = prepay  (to pay before you get something)
pre + test = pretest (to test before the lessons)

Re- is another time prefix, meaning "again."
 re + view = review (to see something again).
re + print = reprint (to print something again).
re + consider  = reconsider (consider something again).
re + call  = recall (think of a name or a thought again).

PLACE

Sub- is another prefix, meaning "under."  .
sub + way  = subway (a "way under the city.")
sub + title = subtitle (titles in another language "under" a picture).
Sometimes, if the usage is new, people put a hyphen (-) between the sub and the base word. Every building workman will understand "sub-floor."

SIZE

Micro-, Semi- and Mini- are about SIZE.
Micro- = small   Microscope - to look at small things
Semi- = half   Semi-circle (a half circle)
Mini - = little      Miniskirt - a rather small skirt

Now let's make up some words, right now, probably for the first time. Let's say you are "not really happy" or "not really sad". Someone asks how you feel. You could say:

"I'm semi-happy (or semi-sad) today."

In the next Wordmaker™, we will show more prefixes, this time to show NEGATION, like "un- happy",  NUMBER like "multi- media," and DEGREE like "super- man."   (Look, up in the sky.....!)