Prefixes

Prefixes
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Slide 1: Slide
EngelsMiddelbare schoolvwoLeerjaar 4

This lesson contains 12 slides, with interactive quizzes and text slides.

time-iconLesson duration is: 50 min

Items in this lesson

Prefixes

Slide 1 - Slide

Take a look at these examples
legal                    illegal
wanted              unwanted
regular               irregular
literate               illiterate

What's the difference between the words?

Slide 2 - Slide

The difference is
word                  it's opposite
legal                    illegal
wanted              unwanted
regular               irregular
literate               illiterate

Slide 3 - Slide

Another difference is
no prefix          prefix
legal                    illegal
wanted              unwanted
regular               irregular
literate               illiterate

So what do they do?

Slide 4 - Slide

Prefixes
Prefixes (voorzetsels) change the meaning of a word. We do the same in Dutch:
legaal > illegaal
gewild > ongewild
regelmatig > onregelmatig
alfabeet > analfabeet

Slide 5 - Slide

Are there any rules?
Not really. You can only study prefixes by studying the words they belong to. Sometimes it is easy, because you already know a lot of them. Sometimes you have to look them up in a dictionary.

Slide 6 - Slide

Are there any rules?
There are minor rules for spelling though.
ir- is always followed by an r
im- is always followed by an m or p
a- is always followed by a consonant (medeklinker)

This does not work the other way around.

Slide 7 - Slide

Also remember
Not every word with a prefix is negative:
alike (the same)
discuss
universe
illuminate
important
involve

Slide 8 - Slide

Which is the correct opposite of honest?
A
unhonest
B
ilhonest
C
dishonest
D
mishonest

Slide 9 - Quiz

Which is the correct opposite of reliable?
A
irreliable
B
unreliable
C
disreliable
D
inreliable

Slide 10 - Quiz

Which is the correct opposite of agree?
A
misagree
B
unagree
C
iragree
D
disagree

Slide 11 - Quiz

For now
Continue working on your weektask and/or your presentation.

If you want to see more examples of negative words with prefixes:

Slide 12 - Slide