Are these suffixes: -s, -d, -r,-ed, -er, -est, -en, -es, -ves, -ter, -ist?

Examples:

Root word + Suffix
girl + -s = girls
love + -d = Loved
love +-r = lover
clean + -ed = cleaned
strong + -er =stronger
bright + -est = brightest
pretty + -est = prettiest
gold + -en = golden
appendix + -es = appendices
themself + -ves = themselves
hot + -ter = hotter
ego + ist = egoist

Everything that you connect to the end are all suffixes?

How would you know if it is a word with prefix or a compound word?

Ex.
1. precede is a word with prefix "pre" and root word "cede"
pre + cede

2. grandson is a compound word.
grand + son

Is "grand" also a prefix?

3. alter ego is a word with prefix "alter" and root word "ego"
alter + ego

4. precook
pre + cook

preheat = pre + heat
prerequisite = pre + requisite

Note: Is it also correct to say "pre-cook" and ""pre-heat"? How about "pre-requisite"?

Thanks!

Last Edited on 21-Aug-2008 5:51 AM

"Themself" is not a word. Yes, "self" is a suffix, but it is a singular form and cannot be connected to a plural word. "Himself" or "themselves."

"Grandson" is adjective + noun written solid. I wouldn't call it a compound word, but I would call it a derivative word, being derived from "son." Technically, "grand" is a prefix in this class of words, but I wouldn't ordinarily think of it that way.

"Alter ego" is a Latin phrase composed of an adjective and a noun: "other self." No, "alter" is not a prefix; it's just an adjective modifying "ego."

I'm happy with "pre-cook" and "pre-heat." "Prerequisite" has, over time, lost the hyphen.

Precook
Pre (what's a pre? If I walked up to you and asked where the pre was, what would you say?)+ Cook = to cook ahead of time.
Compound? No.

*Actually, you may sometimes see "pre" written without being connected to another word, but it's still functioning as a prefix.*

Baseball
Base (a "safe place" in a game) + ball (a round object)= a game played using balls and bases
Compound? Yes!

Raincoat
Rain (precipitation) + coat (an outer garment)= a garment you wear when it rains
Compound? Yes!

Grandson = the child of one's child
Grand (really wonderful)+ son (male offspring)= my wonderful son
Compound?????

This one is tricky. Pogo raises a good point about whether this should be called a compound word. Each of the two parts are real words, but "my grand son" does not have the same meaning as "my grandson," does it?

Prefixes. Add pre to fix, and the result (prefix) is a new word. Add dis to like, and we get the opposite of like (dislike). Put ex- (this one takes a hyphen) in front of wife, and we get ex-wife.

Suffixes. Add less to use, and we get an entirely different word (useless). Add able, and we get another – useable (also spelled usable).

You should distinguish between suffixes and simple endings that just change the grammatical form of the word. When we change walk to walked or walking, the ed and ing are not suffixes but simple endings used to change the form or tense of the verb. The s or es used to make a noun plural is not a suffix but a plural ending.

You are not using a suffix or prefix when you take two complete words and combine them to create another word. When you take grand and son to create grandson, you have created a new word by compounding two existing words. The same would be true of words such as notebook, toothbrush, bedroom, and many others.

Sometimes it may be hard to decide. If, for example, we consider way to be a suffix, we could say that walkway, highway, throughway and driveway are all words created with the suffix way. However, way is itself a word, so we could consider all of these to be compounds. Similarly, self is a word by itself, but it is also used as a hyphenated prefix (self-centered) and as an ending to change the form of a pronoun (myself, himself, herself).

Nobody ever claimed that English is easy, but the ability to create new words by combination is one of its assets.
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)

Last Edited on 22-Aug-2008 9:45 AM