Download AP Spanish Print Tutorial: Vocabulary Recognition II

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AP Spanish
Print Tutorial: Vocabulary Recognition II
Introduction to Prefixes and Suffixes
Countless words in Spanish are formed by adding affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to root
words. Many of these affixes add a new shade of meaning to the word without changing its
grammatical function (part of speech). Others not only change the meaning, but change the
grammatical function of the word, changing it, for example, from a noun to a verb or from a
noun to an adjective. By learning the prefixes and suffixes given in this table, you will be
able to recognize many Spanish words that you didn't know before.
A prefix is a form that is added to the beginning of a word to give it different meaning. A
suffix is a form that is added to the end of a word, either to add a shade of meaning or to
change the part of speech, or both. You are already familiar with many prefixes and suffixes
in English, such as “un-” (undo), “re-” (retake), and “-ship” (companionship). What follows
are lists of some of the most common prefixes and suffixes in Spanish, with examples of
words that are formed from them.
In the table of prefixes we provide only the prefix, its meaning and some examples. In the
table of suffixes, however, we also indicate whether the suffix changes the part of speech or
grammatical function of the word.
Table of prefixes
Prefix
a-
Meaning
without
ad-
towards or
near
before
against
main, principal
anteantiarch-, arc-,
arce-, arzauto-
self
bi-, bis-
two
circum-
around
con-, cocontra-
with
against
dedecades-, dis-
out
ten
no, without
entreequi-
between,
among
equal
ex-
out of, or past
Examples
átono (atonic, without vocal stress), ateo (atheist, without
God)
adjunto (attached), adyacente (adjacent)
anteayer (day before yesterday)
antifascista, antidemocrático
arzobispo, archiduque, arcipreste
autobiografía (story of one’s own life), automóvil (moves
by itself)
bicolor (two-colored), bisabuelo (great-grandfather, or in
other words the second “level” of grandfather)
circumnavegar (to sail around something, such as the
earth), circundar (to surround or encircle)
cooperación, conllevar (to carry with, in figurative sense)
contraindicación (counterindication, or reason not to take a
medicine)
decantar (to decant or pour out)
decasílabo (ten-syllable line of a poem)
desagradecido (unthankful), disgusto (disgust, or lack of
pleasure)
entresacar (extract or thin out, remove something from
among more of the same substance)
equidistante (equally distant), equivalente (equivalente, or
of equal worth)
exportar (export), expresidente (former president)
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Page 2 of 5
AP Spanish
Print Tutorial: Vocabulary Recognition II
fotohecto-
light
one hundred
in-, im-, ir-,
iinterkilomono-
no, without,
lack of
between
thousand
one
neo-
new
poli-
many
post-, pospre-
later, after
before
proresemisin-
in place of
again, or
intensifier
half
without
so-
under
sub-
below, lower,
inferior
above, higher,
superior
across, through
supertrans-,
trastriunivice-, vi-,
viz-
three
one
in place of
fotograbado (photogravure), fotosensible (light-sensitive)
hectárea (an area measuring one hundred meters by one
hundred meters)
injusto (unjust), impiedad (lack of mercy or piety),
irreligioso (not religious), ilimitado (unlimited)
intercalar (place between), interlineal (between the lines)
kilogramo, kilómetro
monogamia (having only one spouse), monoteísmo (belief
in one God)
neoclásico (neoclassical, or revival of classical thought or
culture)
polisílabo (word with several syllables), policromático
(multicolored)
posdata (p.s. in a letter), posgraduado (postgraduate)
predecir (predict or foretell), precolombino (preColumbian, or before the time of Columbus)
pronombre (prounoun, takes the place of a noun)
recaer (to relapse), recargar (to overload), refeliz (very
happy [colloquial])
semicírculo (half-cirle)
sinsabor (literally “without taste,” figuratively an upsetting
experience)
socavar (to dig beneath, undermine), sofreír (lightly fry, or
sautee)
subsecretario, subterráneo (underground)
superabundante, superponer (to overlay)
trasandino (across the Andes), translúcido (translucent)
tricolor (three-colored), triángulo
unilateral, unidimensional
vicepresidente, virrey (viceroy, or one who stands in the
place of the king)
Table of Suffixes
Suffix
-acho
-ación
Type and/or Meaning
pejorative (negative connotation)
performance or result of a process
(verb derivation)
-aco
-ada
pejorative
rough unit of measure, or
action typical of a certain type of
person
position or office, or similarity
-ado
Examples
poblacho (poor, squalid village)
gasificación (conversion into a gas)
dosificación (administration of a correct
dose)
pajarraco (big, ugly bird)
palada (shovel-full), manada (handful),
payasada (clown-like action)
arzobispado (rank of archbishop),
abogado, afrancesado (taking after the
French, “frenchified”)
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No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
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AP Spanish
Print Tutorial: Vocabulary Recognition II
-ador, edor, -idor,
-or
-aje
-al
-ante, iente
actor, performer (noun
derivation)
performance or result of an action
(noun derivation)
pertaining to (adjective
derivation), place where
something is found in abundance
-astro
expresses a quality directly related
to the underlying verb (adjective
derivation). Can often be
expressed by “-ing” forms in
English
profession or occupation, recipient
of something
pejorative
-ato, -azgo
position or office
-azo
blow with an object,
or an augmentative ending, often
with positive connotation
-ble
ability
-cida
-ción
killing
effect or result of an action (noun
derivation)
quality of (noun derivation)
-ario, -aria
-dad
-ear
-ecer
-ería
very common suffix for deriving
verbs (verb derivation)
common suffix for deriving verbs
(verb derivation), sometimes
also used with the prefix enplace where things are sold
-ero
-eto, -ete
trade or profession
diminutive, with specialized
meaning
-ez, -eza
quality (noun derivation)
matador (bullfighter who kills the bull),
cantor (singer), vendedor (salesperson),
seguidor (follower)
arbitraje (arbitration or abitrage, from
arbitrar), equipaje (from equipar)
nacional (pertaining to a nation,
national),
oriental (eastern, pertaining to the
orient),
cerezal (cherry orchard)
cambiante (changing or changeable,
from cambiar), corriente (current or
running, from correr).
bibliotecario (librarian), destinatario
(addressee)
medicastro (quack, charlatan doctor)
poestastro (bad poet)
decanato (position of dean), generalato
(rank of general), almirantazgo
(admiralty), liderato or liderazgo
(leadership)
bastonazo (blow with a cane), cabezazo
(header, striking a soccer ball with the
head), librazo (a big book), cochazo
(big, impressive car)
amable (kind, lovable), creíble (credible,
believable)
insecticida, homicida
detección (detection, from detectar),
derivación (derivation, from derivar)
hermandad (brotherhood), hispanidad
(quality of being Spanish or hispanic)
tutear (address someone with “tú”),
agujerear (make a small hole)
fortalecer (strengthen, from fortaleza),
enaltecer (elevate or lift up in the
figurative sense, from alto)
ferretería (hardware store), carnicería
(butcher’s shop), zapatería (shoestore)
carnicero (butcher), plomero (plumber)
avioneta (light airplane), gordete
(chubby person, with affectionate
connotation)
delicadeza (delicacy), tirantez
(tightness), estupidez (stupidity or
stupid remark)
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No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
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AP Spanish
Print Tutorial: Vocabulary Recognition II
-filo
lover of
-forme
having the form of (adjective
derivation)
position or office
sound, noise (noun derivation)
-ía
-ido
-iento
-ificar
-ismo
-ista
common adjectival suffix
(adjective derivation)
conversion process relating to the
underlying noun (verb
derivation)
doctrine or system of thought
office or profession, or follower of
a doctrine or philosophy
-itis
-ito, -cito, illo, -ico
inflammation
diminutive
-izar
-manía
change or transformation based on
the underlying noun (verb
derivation)
tendency or character (sometimes
adjective derivation)
passion or obsession
-mente
adverbial suffix
-metría
measurement
-metro
measuring device
-oide
similarity to (adjective
derivation)
-ón, -ona
augmentative
-oso
abundant in some quality
(adjective derivation)
augmentative, often with a
negative connotation, but not
always
having the sound of
pejorative
diminutive ending, often with a
negative connotation
-izo
-ota, -ote
-sono
-ucho
-uelo
francófilo (francophile, one who loves
that which is French)
arboriforme (tree-shaped), cruciforme
(in the shape of a cross)
alcaldía (mayorship), abadía (abbey)
zumbido (buzzing), gemido (moan),
chasquido (click)
sangriento (bloodthirsty, from sangre),
sudoriento (sweaty, from sudor)
pacificar (pacify, put at peace), gasificar
(convert to a gas), santificar (sanctify or
make holy, from santo)
comunismo, cristianismo
modista (clothing designer), ebanista
(cabinetmaker), peronista (follower of
Perón)
laringitis, apendicitis
mesita (small table), ratoncito (little
mouse), cigarrillo (cigarrette), defectico
(small flaw or defect)
cristalizar (crystallize, from cristal),
economizar (economize, from economía)
enfermizo (sickly, tending to be sick),
resbaladizo (slippery)
anglomanía (obsessive interest in things
English)
felízmente (happily),
desafortunadamente (unfortunately)
altimetría (altimetry, measurement of
heights)
calorímetro (calorimeter, device for
measuring heat)
esferoide (spheroid, simliar to a sphere
but not exactly a sphere), humanoide
(humanoid, as in science fiction)
hombrón (big man), casona (large
house, mansion)
esplendoroso (splendorous), afectuoso
(affectionate)
favorzote (big favor), palabrota (swear
word)
dulcísono (sweet-sounding)
hotelucho (run-down hotel)
callejuela (small alleyway), arroyuelo
(tiny stream, a trickle)
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No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
powerspeaK12.
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AP Spanish
Print Tutorial: Vocabulary Recognition II
-ura
quality, or the performance or
result of an action (noun
derivation)
-voro
eats or devours (adjective
derivation)
bravura (boldness, courage, from
bravo), hermosura (beauty, from
hermoso), lectura (reading), picadura
(sting of an insect)
carnívoro (carnivorous or meat-eating),
herbívoro
On-line study
If you wish to study more about Spanish prefixes and suffixes, the following web sites may
be useful:
Lengua castellana:
http://www.memo.com.co/fenonino/aprenda/castellano/castellano38.htm
About Spanish: http://spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa110998.htm
Cultura General.net: http://www.culturageneral.net/prefijossufijos/
Examples
Here are two examples of how the meaning of a word can be arrived at by analyzing the use
of prefixes and suffixes:
1. … el polvo deslucía los muebles.
Let’s suppose that you know the meaning of polvo (dust) and muebles (furniture), but you
have never heard of the verb deslucir. However, if you are familiar with your Latin roots you
know that the root is the Latin lux (light, Spanish luz). You also know that the prefix “des-”
means “without” or gives the idea of “taking away”. So, deslucir must mean to take away
light or brightness, or in other words, to “dull”. So now you know what the phrase means:
the dust made the furniture look dull.
2. pedregal
If you were to come across this word with little or no context, you could deduce the
meaning by recognizing the Latin root petr (rock, or piedra in modern Spanish), and the
suffix “-al”, or a place where something is found in abundance. Thus, a pedregal is a place
where a lot of rocks or stones are found, or a rocky area.
Summary
•
•
Thousands of words are formed in Spanish by adding prefixes and suffixes to more
basic, or “root” words.
Many suffixes, in addition to changing the meaning of the root word, also change its
part of speech or grammatical function. This is called “derivation”.
Knowledge of prefixes and suffixes can be used to recognize or make an educated guess of
the meaning of new words.
© 2008 powerspeaK12. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
powerspeaK12.