A prefix is a letter, or a group of letters, that is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. You just practiced using the prefixes re- and un- in the article, “What Do These Things Have in Common?” Now it’s time to figure out what some other common prefixes mean.
Back to Teacher View
Student View
What’s That Prefix?
Instructions: As you read each passage below, note the prefix in italics used throughout. Then try to guess its meaning.
1.
I had a terrible day yesterday! First I misplaced my phone, and it took me 20 minutes to find it. Then I misread the time and didn’t realize how late it was. When I finally got to school, my teacher said I had misunderstood my assignment and done the whole thing wrong. Feeling sad, I looked down at my feet and saw that I was wearing mismatched shoes!
The prefix mis- means:
MichaelJayBerlin/Shutterstock
C. The prefix mis- means badly or wrong. It can turn behave into misbehave (behave badly) and spell into misspell (spell wrong).
2
At midday today, my dad invited me to go out for lunch. He said I could drive and tossed me the car keys, which I caught in midair. It was midwinter, so we wore our coats. I was looking forward to spending time with my dad—but midway through the meal, he asked about my midterm grades! After that, things got a little less fun.
The prefix mid- means:
Joey Laffort/Shutterstock
D. The prefix mid- means in the middle. This one is easy to remember because mid sounds like middle.
3
I’m all set to babysit my little cousin! She’s preschool-aged, so I previewed the movie to make sure it wasn’t too scary for her. I got a precooked chicken for dinner, so I won’t have to do much cooking. Now I’m preheating the oven so it will already be hot when we put in our cookie dough. This will be fun!
The prefix pre- means:
RawPixel.com/Shutterstock
A. The prefix pre- means before. That’s why it’s called a prefix! It comes right before the word it changes.
4.
My friend Luke is being really impatient today. He wants us to start a band, but I told him that’s impossible because we can’t play any instruments. He said I was being immature and that a more grown-up person would find a way to do it. I thought that was really impolite, so I got mad and went home.
The prefix im- means:
Asier Romero/Shutterstock
D. The prefix im- means not. If something is impractical, it’s not practical. The prefix im- is usually added to words that start with m or p.
Text-to-Speech