Word formation: privative prefixes and suffixes

Main privative suffixes -LESS Typically used to form the opposites of adjectives ending in -FUL useful ➝ useless helpful ➝ helpless fearful ➝ fearless flawed ➝ flawless

Nouns formed from these adjectives typically take the suffix -ness: hopeless ➝ hopelessness

Main privative prefixes

UN- This privative suffix is the most frequent one and it can be used for all types of words likely ➝ unlikely sure ➝ unsure less ➝ unless aware ➝ unaware

IN- correct ➝ incorrect sane ➝ insane secure ➝ insecure credible ➝ incredible

Remember that IN- is not only a privative prefix. For example, invaluable doesn’t mean valueless: it actually means precious (=having great value)

IM- IL- / IR-

DIS- MIS- DE-

possible ➝ impossible relevant ➝ irrelevant pleased ➝ displeased behave ➝ misbehave attached ➝ detached

polite ➝ impolite regular ➝ irregular agree ➝ disagree lead ➝ mislead inflate ➝ deflate

mortal ➝ immortal logical ➝ illogical like ➝ dislike place ➝ misplace ascend ➝ descend

pure ➝ impure legal ➝ illegal courage ➝ discourage print ➝ misprint increase ➝ decrease

Other prefixes

OUT- UNDER- OVER-

(often means more than) outdo (=do better) outnumber (=be more) (often means less than) undergo underestimate (means excessively) overwhelming overcome

outlive (=live longer) understatement oversleep

Some groups of words belonging to the same family may be confusing because they can take different negative affixes. Compare the following: active ➝ inactive (adjective) – deactivate (verb=make sth inactive) able ➝ unable (adjective) – disable (=verb) / disabled (=adjective) – inability belief ➝ disbelief (noun) – unbelievable (adjective) doubt ➝ doubtlessly (adverb) – undoubtedly (adverb) care ➝ careless (= not paying enough attention) – carefree (=having no worries) fortune ➝ unfortunate (adjective) – unfortunately (adverb) – misfortune (noun)

Write the opposites of the words in the box under the correct headings.

accuracy available conscious fearful honest inhabited interpret literate morality print relevant respectful satisfied sensitive thoughtful

-less un- in- / il- / im- / ir- dis- mis

Complete the following sentences with 6 of the negative words from the ones listed in exercise 1. 1 In the Middle Ages most people were ________, but things started to change after the introduction of the printing press. 2 I was hit by a stone and my wife found me lying on the ground ________. 3 The man denied being a racist and said that his comment had been _______ by the media. 4 Around 90 per cent of Canada’s land is _________. 5 When we arrived our rooms were _________ for the first night of our stay due to plumbing problems. 6 If you hadn’t made that _________ remark on her clothes she wouldn’t have been offended.

Match the adjectives (1-6) to their synonyms (a-g) and write the privative affix to make them contraries. 0 unlikely a ___ accurate 1 __capable b ___ fit 2 care____ c ___ probable 3 __sympathetic d ___ credible 4 believable e ___ pleasant 5 __suitable f ___ able 6 __agreeable g ___ sensitive C

First Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the gap. The word must be different to the one provided. We often find ourselves laughing (1) _______ at the strangest moments, even APPROPRIATE when someone is in pain. As psychologists are discovering, those (2) ________ HELP giggles might be one of our most important and (3) _________ behaviours. UNDERSTAND As a (4) _________ at UCLA, Dr Sophie Robson has spent the last few years trying NEUROSCIENCE to answer these questions. ‘Mirth may be the primary way of maintaining (5) ______: RELATE couples who laugh together find it much easier to dissipate tension after a (6) ______ STRESS event and they are also (7) ________ to argue over minor matters.’ says Robson. LIKE Although her more uptight colleagues might (8) _________ of her flippant attitude, APPROVAL Robson understands that laughter may seem to be a trivial, ephemeral, (9) ______ POINT reaction to events, but it is (10) ________neutral – there’s always a meaning to it. ARGUE

47 Listen to the extract from ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ by E.A. Poe, and fill in the blanks with the correct word formed from the stem in brackets.

During the whole of a dull, dark, and (1) ________ (sound) day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at (2) ________ (long) found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of (3) ________ (suffer) gloom pervaded my spirit. [...] What was it—I paused to think—what was it that so (4) ________ (nerve) me in the contemplation of the House of Usher? It was a mystery all (5) ________ (solve); nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the (6) ________ (satisfy) conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth. [...] I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in (7) ________ (ruffle) lustre by the dwelling, and gazed down—but with a shudder even more (8) ________ (thrill) than before—upon the remodelled and inverted images of the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.