PREFIXES: UN- / RE-

Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope you had an excellent weekend. 

This week we are going to focus on a bit of English grammar. Specifically, we are going to look at some common prefixes in English. A prefix is a group of letters that are added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. Prefixes can modify and expand the meaning of a word.

Today's first prefix is: UN-

Meaning UN-: Not or opposite

Example 1:
Lisa used to be such a happy person, but after speaking with her at the party last night I've come to the conclusion that she is currently very unhappy?

In this case, we have used UN- to create the opposite of happy.

Example 2:
Hours of hard work can be undone by a single careless mistake. So remember the importance of attention to detail.

In this sentence, the speaker warns of reversing the results of hard work that was done, due to a mistake.

Today's second prefix is: RE-

Meaning RE-: again or back.

Example 3: After I finished the memo, I decided I didn't like it so I completely rewrote it.

Here RE- has the meaning of "again."

Example 4: After you finish reading the book, please return it to me. 

In this case, RE- means to "come back" to its original source

I encourage you to write a sentence or two with words that use these prefixes. You can add the UN- prefix to words such as LIKE, SEEN, FAIR, COVER or FOLD. And you can add the RE- prefix to words like BUILD, CONSIDER or CONNECT. You can post your sentences on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Twitter/X) and we will give you feedback about them ASAP. 

Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow with another lesson.

Ziggurat offers languages for companies in just about any city in Spain. For more information, visit this section on our website: https://www.ziggurat.es/en/languages-for-companies/