{"id":7893,"date":"2026-07-31T09:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/english-prefixes-suffixes-taiwan-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:11:07","slug":"english-prefixes-suffixes-taiwan-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/18kenglish.com\/id\/english-prefixes-suffixes-taiwan-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"English Prefixes and Suffixes: 20 Must-Know Examples | \u82f1\u6587\u524d\u7db4\u5f8c\u7db4\u5b8c\u6574\u6307\u5357"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nQuick Answer:<\/strong> A prefix is added to the beginning of a word (like un<\/em>happy or re<\/em>do) while a suffix is added to the end (like happiness<\/em> or createtion<\/em>). Together, these are called affixes. Learning 20 common English prefixes and suffixes (\u82f1\u6587\u524d\u7db4\u5f8c\u7db4) lets Taiwan learners decode thousands of new words without memorizing each one individually.\n<\/div>\n

A native English speaker knows roughly 20,000 to 35,000 words. A Taiwan professional aiming for business fluency needs maybe 5,000 of the most used ones. That gap looks enormous \u2014 until you realize that English builds most of its vocabulary the same way Lego builds structures: from a small set of reusable pieces. Prefixes and suffixes are those pieces. Learn the 20 most common ones and you gain the ability to decode words you have never seen before. According to the Oxford Learner’s Word Lists, a single common affix can unlock membership in dozens of word families at once.<\/p>\n

What Is a Prefix? | \u4ec0\u9ebc\u662f\u524d\u7db4\uff1f<\/h2>\n

A prefix is a letter group added to the beginning of a base word that shifts or reverses its meaning. The base word “happy” gains the prefix un-<\/em> to become “unhappy.” The word “write” gains re-<\/em> to become “rewrite.” Nothing about the original word changes \u2014 you just add meaning from the front.<\/p>\n

English has around 20 high-frequency prefixes that appear in thousands of words. You already know many of them without realizing it. The prefix dis-<\/em> shows up in “disagree,” “disconnect,” “dishonest,” and “disappear.” The prefix over-<\/em> appears in “overwork,” “overestimate,” and “overlook.” Once you lock in the meaning of the prefix, every word that carries it becomes easier to read.<\/p>\n

\"English<\/p>\n

10 Essential English Prefixes | 10\u500b\u5fc5\u5b78\u82f1\u6587\u524d\u7db4<\/h2>\n

The table below covers the ten prefixes that appear most often in academic, business, and daily English. Focus on these before moving to rarer ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Prefix<\/th>\nArti<\/th>\nContoh<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
un-<\/strong><\/td>\nnot \/ reverse<\/td>\nunhappy, unknown, unlock<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
re-<\/strong><\/td>\nagain \/ back<\/td>\nrewrite, return, rebuild<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
dis-<\/strong><\/td>\nnot \/ opposite<\/td>\ndisagree, disconnect, dislike<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
pre-<\/strong><\/td>\nbefore<\/td>\npreview, predict, prepare<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
mis-<\/strong><\/td>\nwrongly \/ badly<\/td>\nmisunderstand, mistake, misuse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
over-<\/strong><\/td>\ntoo much \/ above<\/td>\noverwork, overestimate, overlook<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
under-<\/strong><\/td>\ntoo little \/ below<\/td>\nunderestimate, underperform, underline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
non-<\/strong><\/td>\nnot<\/td>\nnonprofit, nonstop, nonsense<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
anti-<\/strong><\/td>\nagainst<\/td>\nantibiotic, antivirus, antisocial<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
inter-<\/strong><\/td>\nbetween \/ among<\/td>\ninternational, interact, interview<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Notice the difference between un-<\/em> Dan dis-<\/em>: they both mean “not,” but they attach to different words by convention. You say “unhappy” not “dishappy,” and “dishonest” not “unhonest.” There is no clean rule for which prefix a specific word takes \u2014 reading widely is what builds that intuition over time.<\/p>\n

\"English<\/p>\n

What Is a Suffix? | \u4ec0\u9ebc\u662f\u5f8c\u7db4\uff1f<\/h2>\n

A suffix attaches to the end of a word and usually changes its grammatical category. “Create” is a verb. Add -tion<\/em> and you get “creation,” a noun. “Happy” is an adjective. Add -ness<\/em> and you get “happiness,” also a noun. Add -ly<\/em> to an adjective and it becomes an adverb: “quick” becomes “quickly.”<\/p>\n

This matters for Taiwan learners because Mandarin Chinese does not mark grammatical categories the same way. In Chinese, a word like \u5feb (ku\u00e0i) can function as an adjective, adverb, or part of other constructions depending on position. English forces you to change the word form. Suffixes are how you do that \u2014 and they follow patterns you can learn.<\/p>\n

Research from Oxford University Press on the Academic Word List shows that knowing the most common suffixes accounts for roughly 60% of word-family relationships in academic English. If you know “nation,” you should immediately recognize “national,” “nationally,” “nationalize,” and “nationalization” \u2014 four more words from one root, all through suffixes.<\/p>\n

\"Word<\/p>\n

10 Must-Know English Suffixes | 10\u500b\u5fc5\u5b78\u82f1\u6587\u5f8c\u7db4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Suffix<\/th>\nFunction<\/th>\nContoh<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
-tion \/ -sion<\/strong><\/td>\nverb \u2192 noun<\/td>\neducation, connection, decision<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ness<\/strong><\/td>\nadjective \u2192 noun<\/td>\nhappiness, kindness, darkness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ful<\/strong><\/td>\nnoun\/verb \u2192 adjective (with)<\/td>\nhelpful, careful, powerful<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-less<\/strong><\/td>\nnoun \u2192 adjective (without)<\/td>\ncareless, hopeless, useless<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-er \/ -or<\/strong><\/td>\nverb \u2192 noun (person or thing)<\/td>\nteacher, writer, supervisor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ly<\/strong><\/td>\nadjective \u2192 adverb<\/td>\nquickly, carefully, honestly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ment<\/strong><\/td>\nverb \u2192 noun (result or process)<\/td>\ndevelopment, agreement, payment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-able \/ -ible<\/strong><\/td>\nverb \u2192 adjective (can be done)<\/td>\nreadable, reliable, flexible<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ous<\/strong><\/td>\nnoun \u2192 adjective (having quality)<\/td>\ndangerous, famous, nervous<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ize \/ -ise<\/strong><\/td>\nnoun\/adjective \u2192 verb (to make)<\/td>\norganize, realize, modernize<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The suffix pair -ful<\/em> Dan -less<\/em> are natural opposites worth learning together: “helpful” \/ “helpless,” “careful” \/ “careless,” “powerful” \/ “powerless.” Any word that takes one almost always takes the other, and the contrast between them sharpens both meanings instantly.<\/p>\n

\"English<\/p>\n

How to Decode New Words Using Affixes | \u5982\u4f55\u7528\u524d\u5f8c\u7db4\u89e3\u8b80\u65b0\u55ae\u5b57<\/h2>\n

Here is the practical skill: when you see an unfamiliar English word, break it into parts before reaching for a dictionary. Take “unconventional.” Split it as un-<\/em> + “convention” + -al<\/em>. You know “convention” means an accepted standard. You know un-<\/em> means “not.” You know -al<\/em> turns a noun into an adjective. So “unconventional” means “not following accepted standards” \u2014 and you figured that out without looking it up.<\/p>\n

This decoding skill is what makes the jump from B1 to B2 level faster for Taiwan learners. At lower levels, every new word feels like a blank wall. At B2 and above, most new words are recognizable the moment you analyze their parts. Pair this approach with our guide on building English vocabulary with word roots<\/a> \u2014 Latin and Greek stems work the same way and the two skills reinforce each other.<\/p>\n