Negative prefixes in English. Negative prefixes in English

English prefixes

Un- / im- / ir- / il- / dis- / in- – negative prefixes. With their help, words are formed that are opposite in meaning: legal legal - illegal illegal, like to love - dislike not to love, usual usual - unusual unusual

Mis - - this prefix has the meaning “wrong, incorrect”: misunderstand (from the word understand - to understand) - misunderstand, misprint (print - typo), misinformation (information - information) - incorrect information

Re- – has the meaning “to do anew, again”: rewrite (write - to write) - to rewrite, replay (play-play) - to play again, refill (fill - to fill) - to refill, refill

Over- indicates an excessive degree of something: overcook (cook- cook) - overcook or overcook, overcrowd (crowd- fill with people) - overfill, oversleep (sleep - sleep) - oversleep (sleep a lot)

Under – has the meaning “under”: underground (ground) – metro (subway), underwear (wear – to wear) – underwear (what is worn under clothes)

Ex - this prefix means “former” - ex-president - former president, ex-girlfriend - ex-girlfriend

English suffixes

Let's look at the most common suffixes of various parts of speech.

Noun suffixes

Er / -or - this suffix forms nouns from a verb and denotes the one who performs the action: player (play - play) - player, swimmer (swim - swim) - swimmer, visitor (visit - visit) - visitor, speaker (speak - speak) - speaker, speaker, adviser (advise - advise) - advisor

Ing – suffix of a verbal noun – beginning (begin - begin) - beginning, feeling (feel - feel) - feeling, opening (open - open) - opening

Abstract nouns from adjectives are formed using the following suffixes:

Ness – sleepiness (sleep - sleep) - drowsiness, loneliness (lonely - lonely) - loneliness, darkness (dark - dark) - darkness, politeness (polite - polite) - politeness

Ment - movement (move - move) - movement, announcement (announce - announce) - announcement, agreement (agree - agree) - agreement

Dom – freedom (free - free) - freedom, boredom (bore - boring) - boredom, kingdom (king - king) - kingdom

Ion/ -tion / -sion / -ssion – competition (compete - compete) - competition, admission (admit - acknowledge) - recognition, celebration (celebrate - celebrate) - celebration, revision (revise - revise) - revision

Ure / -ture - adventure - adventure, agriculture - agriculture, nature - nature

Hood - childhood (child - child) - childhood, brotherhood (brother - brother) - brotherhood, neighborhood (neighbor - neighbor) neighborhood

Ship – partnership (partner) partnership, ownership (owner) - property, hardship (hard - difficult) - difficulty

Ist - idealist (ideal - ideal) - idealist, artist (art - art) pianist (piano - piano) - pianist

Ance/-ence – importance (important - important) - importance, disappearance (disappear - disappear) - disappearance, presence (present - presence) - presence, silence (silent - silent) - silence

Adjective suffixes

Able / -ible – eatable (eat - eat) - edible, unbreakable (un+break - break, smash) - unbreakable, changeable (change - change) - changeable

Less - means absence, in Russian it often corresponds to the prefix without-: expressionless (expression - expression) - inexpressive, without expression, cloudless (cloud - cloud) - cloudless, toothless (tooth - tooth) - toothless, careless (care - care) - carefree

Ous – dangerous (danger) dangerous, famous (fame – glory) – famous, vigorous (vigour – strength, energy) – strong, energetic

Ful - presence of quality: forgetful (forget - forget) - forgetful, watchful (watch - observe) - observant, doubtful (doubt - doubt) - doubtful, thoughtful (thought - thought) thoughtful

Ish - denotes 1) a weakened degree of quality: greenish - greenish, reddish - reddish, 2) an expression of irritation or contempt: childish - you behave like a child, bearish - like a bear, camelish - stubborn like a camel

Y – windy (wind - wind) windy, stormy (storm - storm) - stormy, soapy (soap - soap) - soapy

Ic – philosophic (philosophy - philosophy) - philosophical, scientific (science - science) - scientific, democratic (democracy - democracy) - democratic

Ive - expressive (expression - expression) expressive, progressive (progress - progress) - progressive, active (act - act) - active (one who acts a lot)

Adverb suffix

Ly - calmly (calm - calm) - calmly, occasionally (occasional - random) by chance, quickly (quick - fast) - quickly

Verb suffix

En – forms a verb from adjectives and nouns, denotes an action that imparts a quality expressed in the stem weak - weak - weak - weaken, hard - hard - harden - harden, sharp - acute - sharpen - sharpen

Knowing the basic rules of word formation, now it will not be difficult for you to translate the following words:

Unbelievable: un- negative prefix + believe believe + able adjective suffix = incredible

Unexpectedness: un negative prefix +expect expect+ness noun suffix = surprise

Unsuccessful: un negative prefix + success success + ful adjective suffix = not successful

Indifference: in negative prefix +differ to distinguish + ence noun suffix = indifference

well-educated: well well +educated educated = well educated

wholeheartedly: whole whole, all +heart heart +ly – adverb suffix = with all my heart

pain-killer: pain pain+kill+er – the one who kills = painkiller

as well as the following phrases:

A hardly recognizable extract (hard+ly recognize+able) - a difficultly recognizable passage

An unforgettable performance (un+forget+able perform+ance) – an unforgettable performance

An inattentive listener (in+attentive listen+er) - inattentive listener

An easily-hardened metal (easy+ly hard+en) - easily hardened metal

An unknown trouble-maker (un+know trouble+make+er) - unknown troublemaker

Successful underground work (success+ful

MOST COMMON NOUN SUFFIXES
SUFFIX	MEANING	EXAMPLE
(ch. +) -er, -or	designation of a figure	worker worker
(ch. +) -ing	action in progress	boiling boiling
(adj. +) -ness	property, quality	whiteness white
(adj. +) -ty, -ity	condition, condition, quality	activity activity
(ch. +) -age	act or fact of action	breakage breaking
(noun +) -age	content of something (units of measurement)	percentage percentage
(ch. +) -ment	abstract concepts (abstract nouns)	treatment treatment
(ch. +) -ance, -ence	resistance resistance
(ch. +) -ancy, -ency	expectancy hope
(adj. +/noun +) -dom	freedom freedom
(ch. +) -ion, -tion, -sion, -ssion	revision repetition
-ure	pressure pressure
-hood	childhood childhood
-ship	friendship friendship
-th	length length
-an, -ian	1) nationality; 2) profession	American American librarian librarian
-ism	any current (for example, political)	communism communism
-ist	1) belonging to any movement; 2) profession	communist communist; artist artist


SUFFIX	MEANING	EXAMPLE
(noun +) -al	the presence of a sign, properties and qualities expressed by the base	central central
(noun +) -ic	patriotic patriotic
(noun +) -ical	geological geological
(noun +) -ous	famous famous
(noun +) -ful	useful useful
(ch. +) -able, -ible	expressible expressive
(ch. +) -ant, -ent	dependent dependent
(ch. +) -ive	active active
(noun +) -ly	friendly friendly
(noun +) -y	grainy grainy
(ch. +) -ite	favorite Darling
-ary	pecuniary monetary
-ate	fortunate successful
-ed	cold-blooded cold-blooded
-less	lack of quality, sign	useless useless
-ish	1) the presence of a sign to a weak degree; 2) nationality	reddish reddish; Polish Polish
-ese	nationality	Japanese Japanese
-ian, -an	Egyptian Egyptian
-like	similarity	birdlike birdlike
-ern	belonging to one of the cardinal directions	northern northern

THE MOST COMMON PREFIXES AND THEIR MEANINGS
NEGATIVE PREFIXES	OTHER PREFIXES
PREFIX	EXAMPLE	PREFIX	MEANING	EXAMPLE
un-	unable unable	re-(+ v.)	do again what the basis indicates	remake redo
in-	inactive inactive
im-	impossible impossible	en-, em- (+ v.)	impart quality	embody incarnate
il-	illegal illegal
ir-	irregular wrong	over-(+ v.)	excessive degree of quality or performance of an action	overproduce overproduce
mis-	misunderstand wrong understand
dis-	disapproved disapproval	under-(+ v.)	insufficient degree of quality or performance of an action	underestimate underestimate

Methods of word formation in English

There are different approaches to the classification of word formation methods; in Russian-language literature, two main methods are usually distinguished: word composition and word production.

Word production, in turn, is of four types: conversion, change of stress, alternation of sounds and affixation (prefixes and suffixes).

Compounding

Compounding- this is the combination of two words or stems into one word. The resulting words are written together or with a hyphen. The Russian language also has such a method and, by the way, the word “composition” itself is formed by compounding.

Verbs, nouns (most often), adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns are formed by compounding words.

Verbs: to blackmail (blackmail), to broadcast (transmit over the radio).
Nouns: girlfriend (friend), handbook (directory), newspaper (newspaper).
Adjectives: dark-blue (dark blue), kind-hearted (kind-hearted).
Adverbs: nowhere (nowhere), everywhere (everywhere).
Pronouns: somebody (someone), everyone (everyone).

Derivation

Derivation- is the formation of one word from others. This can happen in four ways:

1. Conversion.

2. Changing the place of stress.

3. Alternation of sounds.

4. Affixation.

Conversion

Conversion- this is the transition of a word from one part of speech to another without changing the spelling or sound. It turns out that the word formally remains unchanged, but:

it turns into another part of speech,
its meaning changes.

Conversion is a method of word formation characteristic of the English language, thanks to which there are many words in English that do not differ in appearance or sound, but have the meaning of different parts of speech.

For example, nouns and verbs can coincide:

Or adjectives and verbs:

Changing the place of stress

In this case, the nouns have the same form as the verbs, but they have a different emphasis. Typically, a verb's stress falls on the second syllable, and a noun's stress falls on the first.

Alternation of sounds

In this case, verbs and nouns formed from the same root differ in the alternation of the last consonant sound. Usually it is voiced in a verb, and unvoiced in a noun.

For example:

Affixation

Very often words are formed using addition prefixes and suffixes(together they are called affixes).

Consoles(prefixes) change the meaning of words, but the word itself does not change into another part of speech. Knowing the most common prefixes, you will be able to guess the meaning of words formed with their help, if, of course, you know the source word.
Suffixes serve to form one part of speech from another. Knowing which suffixes are characteristic of which speech, you will easily understand which part of speech is in front of you, and accordingly this will make it easier to understand the word.

Prefixes in English

Prefixes can be divided into two groups: negative and all the rest.
The most common negative prefixes: un-, in-, dis-. There are no rules governing which of these prefixes is used to give a negative meaning to a word.

However, if we talk about passive vocabulary, about understanding text or speech, then this is not so important: if a word has one of the negative prefixes, then its meaning has been changed to negative or the opposite. The tables below give examples of words with these prefixes.

Prefix un-

Also un- is attached to verbs to express the opposite action.

to dress - to dress	to undress - to undress
to lock - lock	to unlock - unlock
to pack - pack	to unpack - unpack

Prefix in-

No rules governing when to use un- and when in-, although these prefixes do not differ in meaning. The important difference is that in- NOT used in verbs.

Examples:

Prefix in- modified in some cases:

before l turns into il-
before r turns into ir-
before m and p turns into im-

Prefix dis-

Dis- can express denial or the opposite action.

Negation:

The opposite action.

Set-top boxes, or prefixes, are morphemes that are added to the beginning of a word to create a new word with a different meaning. A prefix can, for example, give a word a negative or opposite meaning in relation to the original word that does not have a prefix. In addition to the negative meaning, some prefixes convey temporal characteristics (for example, “before”, “after”), data about the place or manner of action associated with the word in question (for example, “again”). Here are some examples:

base word	prefixed word	prefix value type	example sentences	translation of sentences
possible /possible	im possible / impossible	negation	It was impossible to do that task on time.	It was impossible to complete that task on time.
happy/ happy	un happy/ unhappy	negation, opposite	You are looking quite unhappy. What's happened?	You look pretty miserable. What's happened?
payment / payment	*non* —payment / non-payment	negation	Non-payment of your fees can result in the termination of the contract.	Failure to pay your invoices may result in termination of the contract.
war / war, military	*pre* —war / pre-war	time, precedence	Everywhere in the room there was old pre-war furniture.	There was old pre-war furniture everywhere in the room.
terrestrial / earthly	*extra* terrestrial/ extraterrestrial	place, being outside of something	Do you believe in the existence of any extraterrestrial civilizations?	Do you believe in the existence of any extraterrestrial civilizations?
cook / cook, cook	*over* cook / digest	modus operandi; redundancy of action leading to harm	The vegetables were overcooked and tasted awfully.	The vegetables were overcooked and tasted terrible.

Especially often you have to deal with negative prefixes. It is important to take into account that not every prefix fits every root - there are strictly fixed words formed from the original ones using a specific negative prefix. Some prefixes are more typical for use with adjectives and adverbs, and some are more typical for use with verbs. Let's look at some of these prefixes.

Negative adjective prefixes

prefix	features of use	examples of words	example sentence	sentence translation
un—	most common	un friendly (unfriendly), un able (unable), un usual (unusual), un necessary (unnecessary), un employed (unemployed)	The waiters in this restaurant are very unfriendly.	The waiters in this restaurant are very unfriendly.
in-	often gives negative meaning to words with Latin roots	in visible (invisible), in convenient (inconvenient), in formal (informal, informal), in adequate (inappropriate)	The car park is inadequate for a big supermarket like this.	The parking is inadequate for such a large supermarket.
im-	version of the prefix in-, used before roots on m And p	im possible (impossible), im mature (immature, minor), im mortal (immortal), im polite (impolite), im patient (impatient)	Jack is very impatient. He can never wait.	Jack is very impatient. He can never wait.
il-	a variant of the same prefix in-, used before roots on l	il legal (illegal), il legible (illegible, unreadable), il literate (illiterate)	Some employers prefer to deal with illegal workers because their labor is cheap.	Some employers prefer to deal with illegal workers because their labor is cheap.
ir-	version of the in- prefix used before roots on r	ir responsible (irresponsible), ir reversible (irreversible), ir replaceable (irreplaceable)	I can’t rely on my roommate because she is very irresponsible.	I can't rely on my roommate because she is very irresponsible.

However, the prefix in-(and its variants) do not always have a negative meaning. Sometimes they give the word the connotation of “inside”/“inside”, for example: in sert (insertion; insertable), in come (income; income), im port (import; imported), etc.

Negative prefixes of English verbs

Consoles un- And dis- are the most common prefixes that give an English verb the meaning of the opposite action. Often they do not simply deny the action denoted by the base verb, but give it the opposite meaning. However, there are no rules governing the choice of console un- or dis-, therefore it is advisable to immediately memorize the verb
along with its antonym. Some examples:

	to unbend (bend), to undo (cancel), to undress (undress), to unlock (open the lock, unlock), to unwrap (unfold), to unzip (unzip)	I locked the door when I left, but I couldn’t unlock it when I got back.	I locked the door when I left, but I couldn't open it when I returned.
	to disagree (disagree), to disapprove (disapprove), to dislike (dislike), to disappear (disappear), to disconnect (disconnect)	The plane appeared in the sky, and then suddenly it disappeared behind the cloud.	The plane appeared in the sky, and then suddenly it disappeared behind a cloud.

Other prefixes of English verbs with specific meanings

prefix	meaning	examples of words	example sentence	sentence translation
re-	repeat action	to reopen, to redo, to retake an exam, to retype, to reread, to replace, to rewind	Sue failed her exam but she can retake it next year. The shop closed down but it’ll reopen next month.	Sue did not pass her exam, but she can retake it next year. The store has closed but will reopen next month.
over-	excess action	to overdo (redo, recycle), to overeat (overeat), to oversleep (oversleep, sleep too long), to overcharge (cheat, short change in the store)	The shop assistant overcharged me. My boss is overdoing at the moment.	The store clerk cheated me. My boss is overworking at the moment.
mis-	incorrect or poorly performed action	to misunderstand (to misunderstand), to misread (to make a mistake when reading, to read incorrectly), to misinform (to misinform), to mistranslate (to mistranslate)	I’m afraid you misunderstood what I said. We were misinformed.	I'm afraid you misunderstood what I said. We were misinformed.
under-	insufficient action	to underwork (underwork), to underuse (underuse), to undercook (undercook)	This meat is too hard. I think it is undercooked. You always throw away underused pens.	This meat is too tough. I think it's undercooked. You always throw away pens unused.

The most common English prefixes and their meanings

Below are other common prefixes that can extend their effect not only to adjectives and verbs, but also to nouns and adverbs. Please note that some prefixes are separated from the root by a hyphen. Such cases do not obey any rules and are subject to memorization or additional spelling checking in a dictionary.

prefix	meaning	examples of words
*anti-*	against something	anti-government(anti-government), anti-racist(anti-racist), anti-war(antiwar),antisocial (antisocial) , antibiotic (antibiotic; antimicrobial)
*auto-*	independently, performed/performing himself	autobiography(autobiography), autograph(autograph), auto-pilot(autopilot), automobile(automobile)
*co-*	together	co-workers (Colleagues), cooperation(collaboration, cooperation),cooperate(cooperate)coexist(coexist)
*de-*	reverse action or change of action	de-classify(declassify), decontaminate(decontaminate), demotivate(demotivate)
*down-*	reduction / reduction of something	downgrade (demotion), downhearted(sad), downstairs(down the stairs; on the ground floor)
*en-* / in —	in, inside (often used to form verbs from adjectives and nouns)	engage (attract, connect), include (include), encourage (encourage, encourage), enforce(apply)
*extra-*	additionally, besides, out	extraordinary(unusual, extraordinary), extraterrestrial(extraterrestrial)
*ex-*		ex-wife(ex-wife), ex-smoker(former smoker)
*ex-*	outside of anything	extract(excerpt)exhale(exhalation), excommunicate(excommunicate)
*hyper-*	too much, excessively	hyperactive(hyperactive), hypertension(hypertension, high blood pressure)
*inter-*		interactive(interactive), international(international)
*mega-*	very big/important	megabyte(megabyte)mega-deal(mega deal)megaton(megaton)
*mid-*		midday(noon), midnight(midnight), mid-September(mid-September)
*out-*	go beyond something	outdo(surpass), out-perform(overtake),outrun(get ahead)
*post-*		post-election(after elections), post-war(postwar)
*pro-*	for; taking one's side	pro-communist(pro-communist), pro-democracy(pro-democratic)
*semi-*	semi-; half	semicircle(semicircle), semi-final(semi-final)
*sub-*	below any level; under	submarine(submarine),subway(metro, subway)
*super-*	superior to all; best	super hero(superhero), supermodel(supermodel)
*tele-*	at a distance	television(TV)telepathic(telepathic)
*trans-*		transatlantic(transatlantic),transfer(transfer)
*up-*	make an upward movement; progress	upgrade(modernization), uphill(climbing hill)
*ultra-*	extremely	ultra-compact(very compact), ultrasound(ultrasound)

Knowing English prefixes can help you understand the meaning of unfamiliar words that contain familiar morphemes.

There are a number of negative prefixes in English - negative prefixes. Today we'll talk about them. After completing the theory on negative prefixes exercises in order to better understand the material.

The most common negative prefixes used in English are:

in- , un- , im- , il- , ir- , non- , de- , dis- , mis- , a- , anti-

The bad news is that the use of prefixes, like other aspects of word formation in the English language, is difficult to interpret by rules, and therefore you will mainly have to rely on your memory and perseverance. Still, there are some rules, replete with exceptions, regarding negative prefixes.

Let's get started and systematically study negative suffixes for different parts of speech.

Negative prefixes of English adjectives.

Prefix	Meaning and usage
	Negative prefix. With its help, the bulk of negative adjectives are formed.	unable - incapable, unaware - ignorant, uncertain - uncertain, unclear - unclear, unfriendly - unfriendly, unhelpful - useless, uninformed - uninformed, unknown - unknown, unpleasant - unpleasant, unpredictable - unpredictable
	A prefix with a negative meaning, which is mainly used before ac/c	Inaccessible - unattainable, Inaccurate - inaccurate, Inadequate - inadequate, Incapable - incapable, Incomplete - unfinished, Incredible - incredible. Exceptions: indefinite, inevitable, infinite, inflexible, informal, insecure, insignificant, invalid, invariable, invisible, involuntary.
	Used only before l.	Illegal - illegal, Illegible - unclear, illegible, Illiterate - illiterate, Illogical - illogical Exception: disloyal
	Used only before r.	Irrational - irrational, Irregular - incorrect, Irrelevant - inappropriate, Irreparable - incorrigible, Irresistible - irresistible, Irresponsible - irresponsible, Irreversible - irreversible.
	Used before p, less often before m.	Immature - immature, Impatient - restless, Imperfect - imperfect, Impossible - impossible, Imprecise - inaccurate.
	Cases of using dis- must be remembered	Disagreeable - unpleasant, Dishonorable - shameful, Dishonest - dishonest, Disloyal - disloyal; Distasteful - disgusting, distrustful - distrustful.
	Uses of non- need to be remembered	Nonexistent - non-existent, Nonmetallic – non-metallic, Nonpartisan - non-partisan, Nonresident - not living here.

Pay attention to the spelling of words with the prefix non-. Most of them have two spellings (with and without a hyphen):

Non-existent or non-existent.

However, some are written only without a hyphen - such as nonmetallic. This is why I still tend to write without a hyphen in all cases, to avoid unnecessary errors.

Negative prefixes of English verbs.

Prefix	Meaning and usage
	Very rarely used together with verbs. Means “delete”	Unscheduled – remove from schedule Unfriend – remove from friends
	A negative prefix, which often remains in Russian (de-) or is translated as “raz-”.	Deactivate - deactivate, Decode - decode, Decommission - to write off, Decompose - to disassemble, Deconstruct - to disassemble, Decontaminate - to disinfect, Decrease - to reduce, Deform - to deform, Derail - go off the rails.
	A negative prefix, often translated as “not” or “dis”.	Disagree - disagree Disfigure - to disfigure, Disinfect - to disinfect, Disinherit - to disinherit, Disintegrate - to disintegrate, displease - not to like, distrust - not to trust.
	Means “wrong”.	Misdiagnose - make an incorrect diagnosis, Misinform - incorrectly inform, Misinterpret - to misinterpret, Mislead - to mislead Misplace - put in the wrong place Misspell - make spelling mistakes, Mistake - to make a mistake Misunderstand - misunderstand.

Negative prefixes of English nouns.

The negative prefix de is used by nouns formed from verbs with de-:

deflation, decomposition, deactivation, decontamination

The prefix dis is used by nouns formed from verbs or adjectives with the prefix dis.

Disability, disagreement, disbelief, disinfection, disintegration, disloyalty, displeasure, distaste, distrust

In- (il-, im-, ir-)

These prefixes have nouns formed from corresponding adjectives.

illiteracy, immaturity, imperfection, impossibility, inaccessibility, inaccuracy, inappropriateness, incapability, incompatibility, inconsistency, infinity, inflexibility, insecurity, insufficiency, invalidity, invisibility, irrationality, irregularity, irresponsibility.

The negative prefix mis is used by nouns formed from verbs with this prefix:

Misconduct, misdiagnosis, misinformation, misinterpretation, misspelling, mistake, mistrust, misunderstanding

The negative prefix non is typical for singular nouns:

nonconformist / nonconformity, nonexistence, nonintervention, nonsense

The negative prefix un is used by nouns formed from adjectives with the prefix un:

unawareness, uncertainty, unpleasantness, unpredictability

Negative prefixes are exercises.

Let's practice using negative prefixes a little.

Exercise 1. Form negative nouns using the prefixes un-, in-, dis-, mis-, de-

Honesty,
Certainty
Security
Dependence
Importance,
Employment,
Connection
Activation
Belief,
Ability

Exercise 2. Complete the negative prefixes with the following adjective.

an __friendly look
an __interesting book
an __natural color
an __important task
an __possible answer
an __personal letter
an __definite article
an __correct answer
__direct speech
an __regular verb
an __responsible person

Exercise 3. Form negative adjectives using the prefixes un- or in-

Happy, lucky, attentive, capable, comfortable, known, dependent, clean, necessary, pleasant, expensive, human, popular, expressive, definite, real, countable, direct, convenient, accurate

Exercise 4. Replace phrases with one word

Example: not countable - uncountable

Not necessary –
Not safe -
Not tidy
Not breakable -
Not regular -
Not real -
Not expensive -
Not happy -
Not possible -
Not usual-
Not comfortable -
Not direct -
Not interesting -
Not patient -
Not convenient -
Not popular -

Exercise 5. Fill out the table according to the sample.

Adjectives: useful, doubtful, expensive, correct, clean, interesting, natural, healthy, important, polite.

artificial, rude, dirty, cheap, wrong, boring, sick, insignificant

Exercise 6.

Choose the correct prefix to make negative forms of the adjectives.

1) He was short and overweight and generally fairly __attractive.

2) He’s a good teacher, but tends to be a bit __patient with slow learners.

a) un-; b) in-; c) im-; d) dis- .

3) It is an __logical statement, because if one part is true, then the other must be false.

a) dis-; b) il-; c) in-; d) un- .

4) It is __ polite to point at people.

a) dis-; b) im-; c) in-; d) un- .

5) My friend is very __responsible, he never does anything in time.

6) He’s very __patient. He can’t work as a teacher.

a) dis-; b) im-; c) in-; d) un- .

7) He’s an __forgiving person. He never forgives people.

a) dis-; b) ir-; c) in-; d) un- .

Answers:

Dishonesty,
Uncertainty
Insecurity,
independence,
Unimportance,
Unemployment
Disconnection,
Deactivation
Disbelief

an unfriendly look
an uninteresting book
an unnatural color
an unimportant task
an impossible answer
an impersonal letter
an indefinite article
an incorrect answer
indirect speech
an irregular verb
an irresponsible person

UN + Happy, lucky, comfortable, known, clean, necessary, pleasant, popular, real, countable

IN + Attentive, capable, dependent, expensive, human, expressive, definite, direct, convenient, accurate

1 unnecessary, 2 unsafe, 3 untidy, 4 unbreakable, 5 irregular, 6 unreal, 7 inexpensive, 8 unhappy, 9 impossible, 10 unusual, 11 uncomfortable, 12 indirect, 13 uninteresting, 14 impatient, 15 inconvenient, 16 unpopular

1 d, 2 c, 3 b, 4 b, 5 b, 6 b, 7 d

Hope, use of negative prefixes in English did not become a difficult topic for you.

Exercise

Prefixes or prefixes - these are parts of a word that are added at the very beginning and slightly change its meaning. Negative prefixes in English deny the meaning of the stem or make it the opposite.

Some words with a prefix UN–
unhappy, unknown, untidy, uncomfortable, unreliable, unreasonable, unprofessional, unexpected, unfortunately, ungradable, untrustworthy etc.

Some words with a prefix DIS–
dishonest, disagree, disadvantage, disorganised, disheartening, discomfort, disrespectful, disregard, disbelief, disorder etc.

Some words with a prefix IN– (IL–, IM–, IR–)
independence, incorrect, injustice, incapable, inactive, inaccurate, informal, illegal, illogic, illiterate, immature, improbable, impolite, impossible, impersonal, irregular, irrelevant, irresponsible, irreplaceable etc.

Some words with a prefix MIS–
misunderstand, mispronounce, misplace, misguide, misleading, misdial, misfunctional etc.

Some words with a prefix NON–
non-fiction, nonexistent, nonsense, nonprofit, nonqualified, non-smoking, non-alcoholic etc.

Lesson script

Hello friends!

Have you ever heard the words unlike and dislike? You may remember from school that both words contain negative prefixes - un- and dis-. So what happens? Both words essentially negate “like,” but are they synonyms? In general, as you may have guessed, in this lesson we will talk about negative prefixes - how to use them, what are the pitfalls, what you need to remember... Stay with me

So, prefixes or prefixes are parts of a word that are added at the very beginning and at the same time slightly change its meaning. In this lesson we will talk about negative prefixes - that is, those that give the word the opposite meaning: appear - disappear, tidy - untidy, correct - incorrect and so on.

UN - gives the opposite meaning to a word
Comfortable - uncomfortable (convenient - uncomfortable)
Happy - unhappy (happy - unhappy)

DIS - gives a negative value
Comfort - discomfort (comfort - discomfort)
Honest - dishonest (honest - dishonest)

Unfortunately, there is no strict rule regarding which negative prefix should be used. You just need to remember that “unhappy” is precisely UNhappy, not DIShappy, but dishonest is precisely DIShonest. By the way, our exercise will help you with this; be sure to complete it after watching the lesson to check how much you have mastered the topic.

However, there are words that can be used with both un and dis, for example
Unlike VS Dislike
So, dislike is a verb that negates like - that is, “not to like”, we use it when we don’t like something:
I dislike seafood. = I don’t like seafood. - I don't like seafood.

Unlike is more often used as a preposition and is translated as “unlike” or an adjective - “not like”
Unlike the rest of the class, Jenny did her homework. - Unlike her classmates, Jenny completed her homework.
She is unlike anyone I have ever know. - She's unlike anyone I've ever known.

However, with the development of social networks, the use of the verb unlike is gaining popularity - which means canceling a previously given like. Please note that if you use dislike, then you are essentially saying that you gave a “thumbs down” because you didn’t like something. Unlike - means canceling the like.

Unable VS Disable
Unable is an adjective, it means the inability to do something, it is a slightly more formal synonym of cannot (or could not in the past)

Tom was unable to (couldn’t) make his speech. - Tom couldn't make his speech.

Disable is a verb with meanings 1) to cripple, to make incapable of work. In this meaning, disable is usually used in the passive voice
Pete was disabled in a car accident. - Pete was injured in a car accident.

2) disable, disable
The new virus disabled our system. - A new virus has disabled our system.

IN
Dependence - independence
Appropriate - inappropriate (appropriate - inappropriate)

IL- + L__
Legal - illegal (legal - illegal)
literate - illiterate (literate - illiterate)

IM-+P__/M__
Polite - impolite (polite - impolite)
Mature - immature (mature - immature)

IR- + R__
Regular - irregular (correct - incorrect)
Rational - irrational (rational - irrational)

MIS often means something erroneous, incorrect
Understand - misunderstand (understand - misunderstand)
Fortune - misfortune (luck - failure, misfortune)

NON is somewhat less common, but you shouldn’t forget about it either.
Fiction - non-fiction (fiction - journalism)
Alcoholic - non-alcoholic (alcoholic n. - non-alcoholic)

Different x indifferent - different, different x indifferent
Famous x infamous - famous x notorious
Secure x insecure - secure x is often used to mean unsure

There are a huge number of prefixes or prefixes in the English language. Just like in Russian, these prefixes can completely change the meaning of a word. Today we will look at consoles il-, ir-, im-, in-, un-, dis-, mis-, non- , having a negative or opposite meaning, which we use with nouns, adjectives or verbs.

1.Il- used with words starting with a consonant l: logical – illogical (logical – illogical); legible - illegible (legible (about handwriting) - illegible).

2. Ir - used with words starting with a consonant r: responsible – irresponsible (responsible – irresponsible); replaceable - irreplaceable (replaceable - irreplaceable).

3. Im- usually used before adjectives starting with a consonant r: polite – impolite (polite – impolite); personal – impersonal (personal – impersonal).

4. In- most often used:

— Before a combination of letters ac: accurate – inaccurate (accurate – inaccurate); active – inactive (active – inactive). HO unacceptable - unacceptable.

- Before a consonant With: coherent – incoherent (connected – incoherent); capable - incapable (capable - incapable). Exceptions: informal – informal; inarticulate - inarticulate.

5. With a prefix un- you can form the largest number of words with the opposite meaning; it is also the main one in the formation of negation in verbs. Unfortunately, there is no clear rule about when and where it should be used. Therefore, words with this prefix just need to be remembered. But there are some special cases that may help you:

- most often used before vowels in adjectives and participles: useable – unusable(suitable – unsuitable); attractive – unattractive(attractive – unattractive).

— before consonants: bearable – unbearable(bearable - unbearable); daunted – undaunted(frightening - undaunted); welcoming – unwelcoming(friendly – unfriendly); natural – unnatural(natural – unnatural).

Verbs with un- most often have no negative value, A opposite: do – undo (fasten – unfasten); chain – unchain (to fetter – to free).

6. Prefix dis- may cause a little confusion in the use of negative prefixes, because... dis- can be used before vowels, just like some other prefixes. In the case of dis- you just need to remember when to use it:

- adjectives and participles: advantageous - disadvantageous (preferential - disadvantageous); organized - disorganized (organized - unorganized).

- words starting with a pronounced h: harmonious – disharmonious (harmonious – inharmonious); heartened - disheartened (inspired - sad).

- with some words starting with a consonant: passionate - dispassionate (passionate - impassive); respectful - disrespectful (respectful - disrespectful).

- with nouns and verbs: dissatisfy - not to satisfy; disabuse - to remove from delusions; disability - disability.

7. In order to better remember the bailiff mis- associate it with something “wrong”, “erroneous”, because most often it is used in this meaning, mis- works only with nouns, verbs and participles: misfortune - failure; misdial – dial the wrong number; misleading - misleading.

8. Last prefix non- used quite rarely, it comes from the particle no, sometimes it can replace other prefixes (for example un-): Unprofessional – nonprofessional (unprofessional); nonrecoverable – unrecoverable (not recoverable).

These small rules will make it easier for you to understand the use of negative prefixes, but, unfortunately, there are many exceptions that you just need to remember. If you have the opportunity, it is best to look up each individual case in the dictionary.