Prefixes And Suffixes Notes & Questions | Class 5 English | Drishti OS

Prefixes And Suffixes

A prefix is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning — un + happy = unhappy.
A suffix is added to the end of a word to change its meaning — help + ful = helpful.
un- means "not"; re- means "again"; -ful means "full of"; -less means "without".
To build new words and understand their meanings using prefixes and suffixes.

Verbal: Adding a prefix changes the beginning of the word but keeps the base word inside it.

Prefix	Meaning	Example
un-	not	unhappy = not happy
re-	again	redo = do again

Verbal: Adding a suffix changes the end of the word.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-ful	full of	helpful = full of help
-less	without	helpless = without help

Real-life: care + ful = careful (full of care); care + less = careless (without care) — opposite meanings from the same base word!

Add a prefix to 'lock' to mean 'open again' or 'not locked'.

Step 1 — 'Not locked' needs the prefix un-.
Step 2 — un + lock = unlock.
Answer: unlock

Add a suffix to 'hope' to mean 'without hope'.

Step 1 — 'Without' points to the suffix -less.
Step 2 — hope + less = hopeless.
Answer: hopeless

Mistake	Why it happens	Fix
Mixing up un- and re-	Both change meaning but differently	un- = not, re- = again
Mixing up -ful and -less	Opposite suffixes look similar	-ful = full of, -less = without
Adding both a prefix and wrong suffix	Overcorrecting	Add only the affix the meaning needs
Misspelling the base word	Rushing	Check the base word spelling first

Add re- to 'fill' to mean 'fill again': ?
Add -ful to 'joy': ?
Add -less to 'fear': ?
Stretch: Take the word 'care' and write both its -ful and -less forms in a sentence each.

Revision tip: List five words with un- or re- and five with -ful or -less from your reading book.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Prefixes And Suffixes.