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Negative Prefixes

Negative Prefixes Here are lists of common words with negative prefixes and exercises to practice forming words with prefixes such as "un-", "in-", "il-", "im-", etc. The prefixes are used to form the opposite meaning of words like adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. There are some rules for prefixes like "-ir" preceding "r" and "-il" preceding "l", but generally the prefixes mean "not" or "lacking". Exercises provide sentences to complete using the words with negative prefixes.

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Patricia Copello
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133 views

Negative Prefixes

Negative Prefixes Here are lists of common words with negative prefixes and exercises to practice forming words with prefixes such as "un-", "in-", "il-", "im-", etc. The prefixes are used to form the opposite meaning of words like adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. There are some rules for prefixes like "-ir" preceding "r" and "-il" preceding "l", but generally the prefixes mean "not" or "lacking". Exercises provide sentences to complete using the words with negative prefixes.

Uploaded by

Patricia Copello
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Negative Prefixes

We use these prefixes to make the opposite meaning of a word, for example an adjective, an
adverb or a verb. They usually mean NOT or LACKING…
For example: known – unknown (=not known)
legal – illegal (=not legal)
order- disorder (=lacking order)
 There are no rules for –un, -in, -im (only that M goes before P, “impolite”) and –dis.
We do not know why “not usual” is unusual and not inusual or why we say incorrect and not
uncorrect or why dissimilar is correct and unsimilar is wrong.
 However, there are some rules for –ir, -il, -mis.
The prefix –ir goes before R. regular – irregular
The prefix –il precedes L. logical – illogical
The prefix –mis means “in the wrong way or manner”. spell – misspell
The prefix -non may mean “anti” and can sometimes be part of the word and sometimes is added
with a hyphen, for example: nonexistent, but non-alcoholic (beverage), non-fiction (film)

Here there are lists of common words with negative prefixes and exercises

Adjectives with 'un-'


unborn ungrateful unprofessional
uncomfortable unhealthy unreasonable
unconscious unkind untidy
uncountable unknown untruthful
uneconomic unlucky unwell
unemployed unpleasant unusual
unfortunate unnecessary
unhappy unofficial

Complete the sentences using words from the list above. You may find more than one answer.

1 He lost his job last year. He's ...………… ever since.


2 A Rolls-Royce does 10 miles to the gallon. It's a very ...………… car.
3 The Society for the Protection of the ...………… Child campaigns against abortion.
4 Five years ago, Johnny Rabid was an ...………… singer, now he's world famous.
5 'Water', 'rice' and 'oil' are all ...………… nouns.
6 Do you mind if I leave work early? I'm feeling rather ...…………
7 Liverpool played very well. They were ...………… not to score a goal.
8 I don't like calling anyone a liar, but he's certainly ...…………

Adjectives with 'in-'

inaccurate inconvenient insane


inactive incorrect insecure
inadequate incredible insensitive
inanimate indecisive inseparable
inarticulate indefinite insignificant
inattentive indirect intolerable
incapable inexcusable invisible

Complete these sentences with words from the list above.

1 The report was ……………….. It said 100 people were killed. In fact, only 57 were killed.
2 The volcano had been ……………….. for 500 years when interrupted.
3 The true story sounded so ………………..that nobody could believe it.
4 There are two routes. This one's rather ……………….. but it passes through beautiful
countryside along the way. That one's a motorway.
5 Ultra-violet and infra-red rays are ……………….. in normal light.

Adjectives with 'il-', 'ir-' and 'im-'

illegal irrelevant impolite


illegible irreparable impossible
illiterate irresponsible impractical
illogical irresistible improbable
irrational impatient impure
irregular impersonal impartial
Make a sentence about each of the statements below, using words from the list above

1 Yours faithfully,

…This signature is ………………………………………………………………………………


2 SHOPPER REFUSES TO QUEUE FOR CHECKOUT
'I can't wait' she said, 'I'm too busy.'
…She is very………………………………………………………………………………
3 The judge did not favour either side in the dispute.
…………………………………………………………………………………
4 have had had
go went gone
live lived lived
…………………………………………………………………………………
5 ROAD BLOCKED BY FALLING ROCKS
…………………………………………………………………………………
6 'GO TO HELL' SAID BANK MANAGER TO CUSTOMER
…………………………………………………………………………………
7 Man lumps off 200 ft skyscraper and is unhurt
…………………………………………………………………………………
8 The sample is 75% gold, 10% copper,10% iron and 5% zinc
…………………………………………………………………………………

Adjectives with ‘non-’

nonsense non-standard non-aligned


non-smoker non-member non-combatant
non-British non-starter non-proliferation
non-stick non-payment non-intervention
non-stop non-aggression non-conformist
Some people write many 'non-' words without a hyphen (-). This is quite acceptable.
Some of these words are particularly popular in modern political reports.
Complete the text below.

'The United States and the Soviet Union are interested in the ……………….. of atomic weapons.
They also want to sign a ……………….. treaty, which will include ……………….. in the affairs of
……………….. nations and the protection of ……………….. in war zones.'

Words with 'dis-'

dishonest distasteful disrespect


dishonesty distaste disrespectful
disloyal disapprove disbelief
disloyalty disapproval disconnection
disobedient disagreement disadvantage
disobedience disappearance dislike
disorderly discomfort
disorder displeasure

Complete the sentences with words beginning with 'dis-'. There may be more than one correct
answer for each.

1 He lost his job because he was ………………..


2 I thought the joke she told was very ………………..
3 I couldn't do it, because of my parent's ………………..
4 I'm afraid I look at the statistics with ………………..

Words with ‘mis-’

mistaken mistake misjudgement


mistimed misquote mischance
misunderstood misunderstanding misfortune
misshapen misbehaviour miscalculation
misconduct
Rewrite these sentences using words from the list above.

1 I'm sorry, but there are several wrong calculations in your report.
I’m sorry, but there are several miscalculations in your report.
2 He was asked to leave the school because of his bad behaviour and poor conduct.
…………………………………………………………………………………
3 She used to be rich, but he had several bits of bad luck.
…………………………………………………………………………………
4 The article was full of quotes from the Chairman. In fact, he had not said these things
…………………………………………………………………………………
5 The striker kicked the ball, but his shot was badly timed.
…………………………………………………………………………………

Make these words negative by adding 'un-', 'in-', 'il-', 'im-' etc.
expensive ………………..
formal ………………..
legal ………………..
polite ………………..
tidy ………………..
violent ………………..
honest ………………..
probable ………………..
clean ………………..
responsible ………………..
regular ………………..
obedient ………………..
conscious ………………..
possible ………………..
understood ………………..
loyal ………………..
correct ………………..
timed ………………..
logical ………………..
skilled ………………..

Practice 1: word formation (use of English part 3)


Write the correct NEGATIVE form of the word in brackets to complete these sentences. Be very
careful: some words have different negative forms (e.g. unbelievable/disbelieve, unlikely/dislike,
unable/disabled) and you may have to make other changes (e.g. verb to noun or past simple).

1. The politician was accused of being  . (HONEST)

2. His story was so   I thought he was crazy. (BELIEVE)

3. She looked at him in   when he told her the shocking news. (BELIEVE)

4. Many people are   of the dangers of mobile phones. (AWARE)

5. He's invited me to his party. It would be   to say no. (POLITE)

6. Too many children nowadays are growing up   . (LITERATE)

7. That's not what I said! You've   me. (UNDERSTAND)

8. My dog is completely  . I promise he won't bite. (HARM)

Practice 2: more word formation

1. The medicine was   so unfortunately he didn't recover. (EFFECT)

2. His answers were very   so he failed the Maths exam. (ACCURATE)

3. It's   that people will ever live on the moon. (LIKELY)

4. He waited   for the train. (PATIENT)

5. It's   to smoke in public places nowadays. (LEGAL)

6. I would hate to teach children. They always  . (BEHAVE)

7. The shirt he's wearing is completely   for a job interview. (APPROPRIATE)

8. His speech was  . I thought he'd never stop talking. (END)

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