English word formation: prefixes

Hello everyone.

Thank you very much for being here watching my new video.

Would you like to improve your vocabulary by learning negative

prefixes in English?

Today we are going to look at four negative

prefixes and how to use them in order to expand our vocabulary.

And why not? Three, two, one. Wait a minute.

What is a prefix?

First review what a prefix is.

It is a group of letters that go in front of words to change

their meanings in English.

For example, correct-incorrect.

If I take the letters IN- and put them in front of the word correct,

I get a new word.

This new word is incorrect. Incorrect means that it is not correct.

IN- is a negative prefix that means no or not.

In this video I will present four negative prefixes that

we can use to form adjectives, adverbs and verbs in English.

The first prefix we are going to look at today is IL-.

It goes in front of words that start with the letter L,

as in logical-illogical, legal-illegal.

Word challenge.

Which word would you use to express that something is

impossible or almost impossible to read because of being very untidy

or not clear?

Illegible.

IM- can be used with some adjectives and nouns that begin with M, B, P,

to give their opposite meanings.

For example, polite-impolite, moral-immoral,

mature-immature, possible-impossible.

Word challenge.

Which word would you use to express that something is not perfect?

Imperfect.

We add IR- to words that begin with the letter R to make them negative.

For example, responsible-irresponsible,

relevant-irrelevant, regular-irregular.

Word challenge.

Which word would you use to describe the action of not

thinking enough or not worrying about the possible results of what you do?

Irresponsible.

The fourth prefix we are going to learn today is IN-.

It is the most common of the four because it goes

with any other letter in English.

For example, expensive-inexpensive, visible-invisible,

complete-incomplete.

Word challenge.

Which word could you use to express that something is not correct?

Incorrect.

Those who comprehend and know about the reading are those who

know a lot about words.

I mean they know more about multiple meanings, prefixes,

suffixes, word rules.

This knowledge expands their vocabulary, which helps

them when they encounter a new word during reading.

Let's recap.

These are the prefixes we have learnt today.

Illogical or illegal.

Impolite, immoral, immature, impossible.

Irrelevant, irregular, inexpensive, invisible, incomplete.

Now it's your turn.

Complete the sentences with the correct prefixes.

Don’t be

impolite in class.

Immoral behaviour will not be tolerated.

It is

illogical to think that something is good value just because it is

inexpensive.

What would you do if you were invisible for a day?

For further practice, write your answers in

the comments below.

Would you like to learn about other word formation processes?

If you do, please let me know in the comments below.

I hope these tips and ideas help.

If they do, please don’t forget to subscribe to

the channel and like the video.

See you soon. Bye.