Affixes

Affixes are letters or clusters of letters that attach to words to change their meaning or make new words.

They can be tacked on at the beginning, middle, or end of a word, or even wrap around it.

Here’s how they work:

1. Prefixes go at the start of a word.

For example, if you add “un-” to “happy,” you get “unhappy,” which means not happy.

2. Suffixes are added at the end.

For instance, “kind” becomes “kindness” when you add “-ness,” turning an adjective into a noun describing the state of being kind.

3. Infixes are less common in English but can be found in the middle of words.

In Tagalog, an example is adding “-um-” in the word “sulat” (to write), becoming “sumulat” (wrote).

4. Circumfixes are a bit like a combination of prefixes and suffixes because they wrap around a word.

In German, adding “ge-” at the beginning and “-t” at the end of “spiel” (play) turns it into “gespielt” (played).

Affixes are helpful tools that help expand vocabulary and give more precise meanings to our words without having to invent entirely new ones.