As there are several ways to form the negative of a
word in English, a good rule is to always check the
words that you are not sure about in the Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
However it is worth learning a few rules about which
prefix is likely to...
More
As there are several ways to form the negative of a
word in English, a good rule is to always check the
words that you are not sure about in the Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
However it is worth learning a few rules about which
prefix is likely to be used to form a negative.
Note
that the main principle for several of these is ease
of pronunciation.
word
word
forNegative prefixes
www.
oup.
com/elt/teachersclub© Oxford University Press
a- is mostly used in formal or technical words to indicate lacking in or lack of:
amorphous (lacking in shape), amoral (lacking in morals)
dis- is also used with verbs, adjectives and nouns to form opposites: dislike,
disobedient, distrust
dys- is used with nouns and adjectives to mean bad or difficult: dysfunctional, dyslexia
il- is used to form opposites before the letter l: illogical
im- is used to form opposites before the letters b, m, p: imbalance, immaterial, impossible
in- is used to form opposites, such as: inaccurate, inexact
ir- is u
Less
