Feedback: prefixes and suffixes

Verbs that start with pre*: present, prepare, prevent, preserve, predict, precede, prescribe... In many of the verbs the pre* carries the sense before. Notice that you also get press, which is not constructed with the prefix pre*.

With adjectives, the ending *less is used to indicate the lack of the particular quality. Endless is without an end, useless is not useful, and homeless, helpless and hopeless people do not have much.

With dis* you probably were able to find verbs such as disable, dislike, disappear and discourage, in which the prefix reverses the meaning of the verb. In other words, it is used for creating an antonym of the verb. Antonym is the opposite of synonym: synonym and antonym are antonyms. However, you probably found other words that are not constructed in this manner even though they may appear to be so. The most common of these is discuss, which has its origins in latin (discutere). There also is a verb in English, cuss (to curse), but discuss has nothing to do with it. Complicated, huh?