Learn prefixes in English grammar - Some common prefixes in English

so let's begin by learning some common prefixes  so prefixes come at the beginning of words and  

our first prefix is pre so as we see  here before we even look at the meaning  

the word prefix has the  prefix pre which means before  

so i mentioned prefixes come at the beginning of  words pre means before so our first prefix is pre

next we will talk about the prefix on

then re

so if they're together it means they have  the same meaning so we talked about what pre  

means but let's take a look at  what each of these prefixes mean  

so pre means before just like prefix  that pre shows us that it comes before  

the word next we have on this is one  maybe you already know right on means not  

lacking so don't have lacking means you don't  have something or opposite of for example  

happy if we want to change that to the opposite  we would say unhappy means not happy right  

next we have re r e this means again for example  i might say something like review so this means  

to like i often say make sure when you learn  something to review it means view or look at again  

right review look again next we have dis and miss  so both of these mean not wrong or again opposite  

of so there are many prefixes and suffixes that  have the same or similar meanings as we will see  

next we have the prefix co this means together  or with and last for our most common prefixes  

we have ill im in and ear which means not or  without so we can see here that these three on dis  

and miss and these four all similarly mean  not right lacking or without and opposite of  

but we can't use them in the same way with every  word but we'll see some examples and when you  

come across words with these prefixes you will  have a better understanding of what they mean  

so let's take a look at some here we have uh six  of our prefixes that we've chosen here pre on re  

dis co and eel so let's add base  words to them and see if we can guess  

what they mean so let's begin with  pre do you remember what pre means  

pre means before so when we add a base word like  a verb view preview so here that means view before  

preview so for example when you are waiting  to see a movie you might see a preview which  

means maybe about one minute or two minutes short  clip of a video of a new movie coming out so you  

haven't seen the movie yet but you have pre seen a  preview seen a little bit before the movie preview

let's look at our next one so here we have  on oh where's my mouse where did it go  

sorry guys there it is so we have on which means  not so for example let's add a base word undo  

so undo means opposite of do  so maybe if you're typing on  

your computer for example and you  make a mistake you might hit ctrl z  

to undo or opposite of do right not do so on means  not lacking or opposite of so undo opposite of do  

next we have re which means again so  if we have let's add a base word start  

restart so this would mean start again uh maybe  uh you are building something let's say you got  

a a new um table from ikea maybe  you guys have been there have to  

build your own table and oh you make a mistake  oh no you might have to restart or start again  

next let's look at dis so dis and miss have the  same meaning which is again not or opposite of  

so here we have dis appear this means opposite of  appear so what does appear mean appear means to  

show up right suddenly you can see something so  let's say uh um i'm there's a fly flying around  

and it appears oh suddenly i see it in front  of my face then if i suddenly maybe it goes  

to hide it disappears i can't see it  anymore disappear opposite of appear  

next let's look at our prefix co which means  with or together co-exist coexist means to exist  

or live together so for example many  people co-exist which means exist together  

in a good way in a happy way um in my neighborhood  right many people coexist live together  

last for our example we have ill which again  means not without or opposite of so ill  

legal illegal this means not legal so legal has  to do with law and rules right so if something  

is illegal it means you should not do it and if  you do you will get in trouble right illegal so  

as you can see maybe if you had never seen the  word illegal before knowing that that prefix  

ill means not might help you look at it and say  okay it means not legal and i can just look up  

what does legal mean if you don't know already so  understanding these prefixes can be very useful