** Prefixes and Suffixes

Everything you need to know about Prefixes and Suffixes:

Examples of Prefixes: a-, un-. co-, omni-, re-, sub-, pre-, bi-, mis-, dis-, inter-, anti-, pro-, non-, mono-, de-, hypo-, hyper-, mal-, retro-, trans-, poly-, ob-, ab-, semi-, equi-, epi-, over-, ab-, ad-, com-, ex-, in-.

Examples of Suffixes: -y, -est, -ence, -able, -ible, -ship, -ance, -al, -ish, -or, -er, -ment, -tial, -ist, -ism, -ency, -sion, -tion, -ness, -hood, -dom, -en, -ify, -ize, -ate, -worthy, -wide, -tic, -less, -tive, -ous, -ful, -tial, -ly, -tude.

Rules or guidelines:

- According to June Casagrande's book, Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, "when you're adding a prefix to create a word that is not in the dictionary, normally you should not use a hyphen. It's the opposite with suffixes: When you're using one to make a word not in the dictionary, most often you do add a hyphen."

HOWEVER there are a lot of exceptions!

For prefixes, use a hyphen when:
- "adding on to a capitalized word or a numeral: anti-American, pre-1950s,".
- "putting two vowels together: pro-occult, anti-illness"
- adding a prefix to an expression that's already hyphenated: "non-self-serving".

Prefixes need some sort of squiggle to connect them to multiword compounds:
Ex: Instead of writing "postCivil War", you would write "post-Civil War" or "non-self serving vs self-serving".

-using the prefix "co-": "Co-" is an oddball because unlike most prefixes it normally does require a hyphen. Exceptions include widely accepted words such as "coordinate," "coexist,"" etc.
-using the prefix "post-":...takes a hyphen except for some widely accepted words such as "postdate," "Postdoctoral,"" etc.

Suffixes:

Normally suffixes need hyphens. For example, "-free" as in "oil-free".
Exceptions to this:
- the suffix "-like": "ratlike," except for words ending in "l"- "weasel-like".
-"-borne":...tunaborne bacteria".
-"-wide": You'd say "officewide" and "countrywide"; make exceptions for long words or whenever skipping a hyphen creates confusion: "United States of America-wide".

(All information in quoted material is from June Casagrande's book, Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies copyrighted 2006.)