print add to favorites

List of Affixes

by W.D. Bursuck|M. Damer
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Learning to Read, Phonics and Sound

The careful teaching of letter combinations and affixes as preskills to multisyllable word-reading is a key feature of effective advanced word-reading programs (Archer et al., 2003). The table below lists some of the more common beginning affixes.

Affix Phonetic Pronunciation
a afraid
able drinkable
age package
al animal
be behold
bi bicycle
com commit
con confess
de deport
dis dismiss
er hotter
est saddest
ex expand
ful helpful
im imperfect
in inside
ing dusting
ion action
ish punish
ive captive
less restless
ly friendly
ment shipment
mid midterm
mono monorail
ness goodness
ous monstrous
out outlast
post postseason
pre pretend
pro provide
re resell
semi semicircle
ship friendship
teen fifteen
un unhappy
uni uniform
ward seaward
y muddy

Sources: Avery & Ehrich (2002); Celce-Murcia et al. (1996); Edelen-Smith (1997); Ladefoged (1975); McCormick et al. (2002); Singh & Singh (1976).

Take Action

  • this article with friends and family.
  • Have a question about Learning to Read? Ask it here.
  • Publish your work on education.com.

Free Webinars for Parents

Join our free online seminar led by top specialists in their respective subject areas