Table Of ContentFrench Vocabulary
Building with Suffixes
and Prefixes
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French Vocabulary
Building with Suffixes
and Prefixes
Eliane Kurbegov
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Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xi
How to use this book xiii
I French suffixes 1
1 Beginning suffixes 3
1 -ain/-aine Cubain 3 26 -ique lunatique 47
2 -ais/-aise Français 4 27 -sie amnésie 48
3 -ois/-oise Québécois 5 28 -gramme cardiogramme 49
4 -ien/-ienne Alsacien 6 29 -graphie cartographie 51
5 -ien/-ienne musicien 8 30 -pathie cardiopathie 52
6 -al/-ale amical 10 31 -tie diplomatie 53
7 -el/-elle accidentel 11 32 -crate démocrate 54
8 -if/-ive pensif 13 33 -cratie démocratie 55
9 -atif/-ative admiratif 14 34 -ier pommier 56
10 -eux/-euse généreux 16 35 -(r)aie cerisaie 58
11 -eux/-euse copieux 18 36 -culture agriculture 59
12 -in/-ine féminin, argentin 20 37 -ier/-ière cuisinier 60
13 -ation accusation 22 38 -erie confiserie 63
14 -ateur/-atrice accusateur 24 39 -erie argenterie 65
15 -ition abolition 26 40 -erie pruderie 66
16 -tion dilution 28 41 -ée dictée 67
17 -ant/-ante amusant 29 42 -ée musée 69
18 -ance alliance 31 43 -ée marée 70
19 -ité absurdité 33 44 -ée bouchée 71
20 -bilité accessibilité 35 45 -esse gentillesse 72
21 -able adorable 37 46 -esse tigresse 74
22 -ible audible 39 47 -issime rarissime 75
23 -té beauté 41 48 -ment déplacement 76
24 -ie agonie, chimie 43 49 -(m)ment amoureusement 78
25 -ique acrobatique 45 50 -cide fongicide 80
v
2 Intermediate/advanced suffixes 83
51 -ade baignade 83 76 -phobie acrophobie 122
52 -age bavardage 85 77 -itude amplitude 123
53 -aille trouvaille 86 78 -aison crevaison 124
54 -fère salifère 88 79 -ure blessure 126
55 -forme difforme 89 80 -ure devanture 128
56 -ateur/-atrice animateur 90 81 -son trahison 130
57 -eur/-euse~-rice chanteur, 82 -ail bétail, éventail 131
professeur 92 83 -aire actionnaire 132
58 -eur pâleur 96 84 -aire vestiaire, millénaire 134
59 -ateur congélateur 98 85 -aire consulaire 135
60 -eur ascenseur 99 86 -ence urgence 137
61 -euse agrafeuse 100 87 -ent/-ente omniscient 139
62 -eur/-euse boudeur 101 88 -ise franchise 141
63 -isme patriotisme 103 89 -ard/-arde criard 142
64 -isme séparatisme 104 90 -et châtelet 144
65 -isme hédonisme 106 91 -et/-ette follet 146
66 -isme fauvisme 107 92 -ette amourette 147
67 -iste pacifiste 108 93 -in/-ine rouquin 150
68 -iste activiste 110 94 -in biscotin 151
69 -iste alpiniste 111 95 -on chaînon 154
70 -iste hygiéniste 113 96 -on/-onne maigrichon 156
71 -ologiste neurologiste 114 97 -eau chevreau 157
72 -ologue archéologue 115 98 -ot/-ote îlot, parigot 158
73 -ologie biologie 117 99 -ot/-ote jeunot 159
74 -ite otite 118 100 -âtre grisâtre 160
75 -manie kleptomanie 120
vi Contents
II French prefixes 163
3 Beginning prefixes 165
101 non- non-agression 165 116 hyper- hyperactif 186
102 pseudo- pseudo-épique 166 117 hypo- hypoderme 187
103 quasi- quasi-légalité 168 118 micro- micro-organisme 188
104 archi- archi-beau 169 119 il-/ir- illégal, irréel 189
105 néo- néonazisme 170 120 im-/in- impatient, inactif 191
106 aéro- aéroclub 171 121 im-/in- imbiber, incarcérer 197
107 anti- antiacide 172 122 mal-, mé(s)- malchance 200
108 auto- autoanalyse 175 123 para-/pare- parachute 203
109 auto- autoroute 176 124 post- posthume 204
110 bio- biochimie 177 125 pré- préaccord 206
111 co-/col- coauteur, 126 anté- antécédent 207
collection 178 127 mono-, uni-; bi(s)-; tri(s)-
112 com- comparaison 180 monocycle, bifocal, trilingue 208
113 con- conciliation 181 128 pro- propager 211
114 ex- exagération 182 129 psych(o)- psychologie 213
115 extra- extra-scolaire 184 130 re-/r(é)- recycler 214
4 Intermediate/advanced prefixes 217
131 sous-, sub- sous-alimenter, 145 inter- interagir 244
subjuguer 217 146 a- abrutir 245
132 sur- surabondance 219 147 dia- diamètre 251
133 super-, ultra- superchic, 148 ortho- orthopédie,
ultramoderne 221 orthographe 252
134 télé- télédiffusion 223 149 photo- photographie 254
135 trans- transaction 225 150 épi- épicentre 255
136 a-/an- amoral, anonyme 226 151 équi- équinoxe 257
137 contre- contre-attaque 228 152 eu- eulogie 258
138 dé(s)- dépeigner 230 153 géo- géologue 259
139 dis- disculper 233 154 hélio- héliotrope 261
140 em- embellir 235 155 hétéro- hétérosexuel 262
141 en- enrager 236 156 homo- homogène 263
142 em- embouteiller 238 157 allo- allocentrisme 264
143 en- encaisser 239 158 holo- holocauste 265
144 demi-, mi-, semi- demi-tour, 159 cosmo- cosmologie 266
mi-juin, semi-privé 241 160 dys- dyslexie 267
appendix a A crash course in French verbs and adverbs 269
appendix b List of French affixes 273
Answer key 277
Contents vii
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Preface
A French word may be a basic word, like English soft, or a word with a prefix and/or a
suffix, like presoftened and softly. These two words are part of a family of words that have
the base word soft. In a family of words, the base word is the common element and
contains the main idea of the word. Knowing the meaning of the base word (soft) and
the meanings of the prefix (pre-) and the suffixes (-en, -ed, and -ly) helps you recognize
or infer the meaning of a word like presoftened or softly.
To know the meaning of an affixed base word requires that you be familiar with
the possible meanings of prefixes like pre- and suffixes like -ly. Fortunately, most French
prefixes have recognizable English counterparts. Suffixes, however, differ quite a bit
between French and English and require careful study.
A prefix is a letter or group of letters affixed to the beginning of a base word to add
to or otherwise modify the base word’s meaning. For example, the adjective amoral is
composed of the base word moral and the prefix a-, which adds the concept of not to
the meaning of the adjective. The word moral means being concerned with right and
wrong; the word amoral means not being concerned with right and wrong. A prefix
does not change the function of the base word: moral and amoral are both adjectives.
A suffix is a letter or group of letters affixed to the end of a base word to form a
new, related word. For example, the suffix -ity added to the base word moral changes
the adjective moral to the noun morality. A suffix may change the function of a word;
for example, fear is a noun, but fearful is an adjective. Some French suffixes are gram-
matical, including endings to mark infinitives, present participles, past participles, and
adverbs. These suffixes and their uses are explained in Appendix A.
ix
