What are prefixes and why are they useful in academia?

Clearly then, prefixes generally change the meaning of a word and may also sometimes be used in combination, such as in the verb ‘overreact’. However, do be careful when attempting to correctly recognise prefixation as some words may only appear to contain prefixes simply because of the way they are spelled. This is true of the word ‘predator’. While ‘predator’ may appear to have the prefix ‘pre-’, it is in fact spelled this way only because of its Latin etymology. An easy test with words such as this is to see if any suspected prefixes can be successfully separated from their base word, and in this case ‘dator’ without the prefix ‘pre-’ has little clear meaning and cannot stand alone as an acceptable word.

One additional aspect to be conscious of with prefixes is how they’re used to create new words in English. Indeed, many new words which have recently entered English dictionaries have done so because of the processes of affixation – as is the case with the relatively recent addition ‘pre-prepare’. While some English speakers may argue that ‘pre-prepare’ is not a word, this word does have the unique meaning ‘to produce something in advance’ and therefore has entered the language because it fills a lexical gap. Now that you understand the basics of prefixation, let’s discuss the different types of prefix you may find in academic English.