English words with the prefix un. Negative prefixes: how to choose the right one

It is not at all necessary to use a negative auxiliary verb every time to give the opposite meaning to a statement. A little trick will come to the rescue here - prefix un. In English this prefix occurs quite often. He is “friendly” with verbs and adjectives. Ability to use un- will significantly expand your vocabulary and give you confidence in your abilities during a conversation with a foreigner.

The prefix un in English. Examples

So let's see what it represents is the prefix un- in English.

1. John’s arrival was absolutely unexpected.

John's arrival was completely unexpected.

2. I have already heard this unreal story.

I've heard this unreal story before.

3. Please, undo your coat and sit down.

Please unbutton your coat and sit down.

4. You look unbelievable!

You look incredible!

5. Who is that unattractive young guy?

Who is that unattractive young man?

Agree, it’s much simpler and more beautiful to say "John's arrival was unexpected", how "John's arrival wasn't expected" . Both options are correct, but why not diversify your speech a little?

List of words on the topic “prefix un in English”

Unfortunately, there are no clear rules when you can or cannot add to words prefix un in English. Such cases simply need to be remembered. Heard the word with un- checked it in the dictionary and took note. They saw it in the text and did the same. To begin with, I advise you to pay attention to the list that will help you remember the first words with attachment un-.

unhappy - unhappy

undone – unmade, unfinished

unimaginable - unimaginable

unable - unable

unchain – to release

unusable – unusable, unsuitable

unpleasant - unpleasant

unsafe - unsafe

uncomfortable - uncomfortable

unwanted - unwanted

unspoken – unspoken, unspoken

unnatural - unnatural

unsuccessful – unsuccessful, unsuccessful

unsuccess - futility

unlucky - unlucky

untidy – sloppy, untidy

unfriendly - unfriendly

unreliable – unreliable

unusual – unusual, extraordinary

unlimited – limitless, unlimited, endless

unbearable - unbearable

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.

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

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

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

4. In- most often used:
Before the 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, and 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 do not have a negative meaning, but the opposite: do – undo (fasten – unfasten); chain – unchain (to fetter – to free).

6. Prefix dis- can create a little confusion in the use of negative prefixes, since 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).

Attached to the beginning of a word in order to change the meaning of the word. Knowing the meaning of the prefix and the meaning of the word itself, we can understand the meaning of the newly formed word. For example, the word comfortable (convenient), used with attachment un- , which gives the meaning of negation, changes its meaning to the exact opposite - uncomfortable (inconvenient).

Interesting fact: the word itself prefix (console) contains the prefix pre- , which means "before". And the root word fix means "to fasten" or "to fix". So the meaning of the word prefix - "place before".

Prefixation, or the process of adding a prefix to a word, is a common way of creating new words in the English language.

Prefixes in English with the meaning not

The most common prefixes in English are those that express negation. The meaning of the word is reversed.
a - immoral (immoral)
an - anaerobic (anaerobic - not requiring air)
ig - ignoble (mean, noble - noble)
il - illegal (illegal)
im - imbalance (imbalance)
in - inadequate (inadequate)
ir - irregular (irregular)
non-nonstop (non-stop)
un-unusual (unusual)

Prefixes in English with the meaning bad, wrong (bad, wrong)

dys-dysfunction (dysfunction),
mal - malocclusion (malocclusion),
mis - misspelling (wrong spelling)

Prefixes in English with the meaning against (against)

anti-anti-inflammatory (anti-inflammatory),
contra - contraindication (contraindication),
counter - countermeasure (countermeasure)

Prefixes meaning negation, removal

de - deactivate (deactivate),
dis - disappear (disappear)

Prefixes in English with the meaning before (before), already (already)

ante-antebellum (pre-war),
fore-foresight (foresight),
pre-preassembled (pre-assembled)

Prefixes that increase or decrease numerical values

Developing technologies especially often use prefixes for measured quantities. As our technological and computing devices become smaller and smaller, prefixes tend to get smaller too:
mili- number multiplied by 10 -3,
micro- number multiplied by 10 -6,
nano- number multiplied by 10 -9,
pico- number multiplied by 10 -12.

And these devices need more and more memory, so set-top boxes are also “growing”:
mega- a number multiplied by a million is 6 zeros,
giga- number multiplied by a billion - 9 zeros, gigabyte - billion or billion bytes
tera- a number multiplied by a trillion is 12 zeros, terabyte - trillion bytes
peta- a number multiplied by a quadrillion is 15 zeros.

It should be noted that these prefixes are used not only in English, but throughout the world, and their roots come from antiquity, from Greek and Latin.

Other common prefixes in English

Not all words begin with prefixes

There are many words in English that look like they begin with a prefix, for example: ex- V exercise (exercise) And excommunicate (excommunicated), inter- in a word interesting (interesting), per- in words perhaps (possibly) and period (period). But these are not prefixes and you should not try to decipher the meaning of these words based on the meaning of the “prefix”.

When a hyphen is added with prefixes.

Hyphens are usually used in the following cases:

• with attachments ex- And self- always use a hyphen: self-conscious (deliberate), ex-student (former student);
• if the main word is a proper noun - un-American (non-American);
• if the base word begins with the same vowel as the prefix ends de-escalation (de-escalation), pre-eminently (to the highest degree) re-entry (entrance into the dense layers of the atmosphere). However, there are well known cases where the hyphen becomes optional, e.g. cooperate, coordinate .
• Use a hyphen when a word might cause confusion or sound strange in a sentence: She told them to re-cover the will after they took water. (She told them to cover the well again after they had taken the water.)
  A hyphen is needed here so as not to be confused with the word recover (health recovery).

To summarize the above

In this article we looked at common cases of forming words using prefixes. But it should be noted that you need to be careful with prefixes: the same prefix can be written in several ways (for example: pre- And pro- ), some prefixes (for example, in ) have more than one meaning (“not” and “in”). However, being able to recognize prefixes can help us learn more new words.

We continue to work on word formation. Let's look at a couple more prefixes that can be found in irregular verbs, and not only in them.

The prefix MIS has only one meaning = NOT AS IT SHOULD be, that is incorrectness and falsity. It comes from the English verb to miss = to miss, to miss. And now Latin = minus. This is all included in the meaning of the MIS prefix. It is added mainly to verbs and nouns.

A few examples:

MIS + to place = place, put in place - to MISplace = put, put in the wrong place;

MIS + to lead = to lead, to be ahead - to MISlead = to mislead, to lead astray;

MIS + chance (n) = chance, case - MISchance(n) = failure, accident;

MIS + to behave = behave (about behavior and manners) - to MISbehave = badly, behave badly;

MIS + fortune (n) = luck, happiness, fate, fortune - MISfortune (n) misfortune, trouble;

MIS + to lay = put, put - to MISlay = put in the wrong place;

MIS + to spell = write and spell - to MIS-spell = write with spelling errors;

MIS + step (n) = step, step, measure = MIS-step(n) = incorrect, false step, error;

MIS + to understand = understand – MISunderstand = misunderstand;

MIS + count (n) = count – MIScount = miscalculation.

I would like to talk about the verb to MIStake - to make a mistake, misunderstand, be mistaken. The root of this verb is the well-known verb to take = to take, to take. It would seem how to combine “take” and “make a mistake” together? But everything is very simple: the verb “to take” is very polysemantic and one of its figurative meanings = to understand. count and believe. Then everything fits:

There is also a noun MIStake (n) = mistake, misunderstanding, delusion.

The IN prefix is ​​a special, “changing” prefix, since it changes the consonant letter N into the letters M, L R (IM, IL, IR), depending on which letter the word to which it is added begins. Let's encode these three letters for memorization: MaLaR. In addition, remember:

before the letter “L” the prefix IN = IL; that is, we get a double letter “L”, for example: iLLusion, iLLegal, iLLuminate;

before the letter “R” the prefix IN =IR; that is, we get a double letter “R”, for example: iRREgular, iRResponsible, iRRevelant;

before the letters “P”,”M”,”B” there is a prefix IN =IM, that is, a double letter “M” and a combination of the letters “MP” and MB” are obtained, for example: iMMortal, iMProve, iMBalance. To remember the three consonant letters P, M, B, I encode: PuMBa.

If you open the dictionary with the letter “I” and look at words that begin with the letters IN, IR, IM, IMB, IMP (and there are a lot of such words), then almost all of them have prefixes. Having learned one root word and adding a prefix to it, you will automatically understand two words, and taking into account suffixes this number doubles or triples. four times... etc.

Now let's look at the meaning of the IN prefix.

The IN prefix has two meanings:

1. Completely absorbs the meaning of the preposition of place “IN” = in, inside; with the same translation. In this meaning, the prefix IN does not always change its consonant “N”. A few examples:

IN + sight - INsight (n) = insight, insight, intuition;

IN + come - INcome (n) = income, income, earnings;

IN + deed - INdeed (adv) = in fact, indeed;

IN + born - INborn IMborn (adj) = congenital;

IN + to lay - INlay = to lay, lay;

IN + to put - INput = enter;

IN + to set - INset = insert, nest;

IN + to press - IMpress = to impress, to make an impression;

IN + to breethe - INbreethe = to inhale;

IN + cut - INcut(n) = cut-in;

IN + land = INland (n) = the interior part of the land, distant from the sea.

2. The IN prefix has a NEGATIVE meaning. This is analogous to the UN prefix. Translated: NOT or WITHOUT.

IN + moral - IMMoral = immoral;

IN + delicate - INdelicate = indelicate, tactless;

IN + comparable - INcomparable = incomparable;

IN + patient - IMpatient = impatient;

IN + convenient - INconvenient = inconvenient;

IN + logical - ILLogical = illogical;

IN + different - INdifferent = indifferent;

IN + action - INaction = inaction;

IN + ability - INability = inability;

IN + curable - INcurable = incurable.

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, and 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 meaning, 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 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.