there are several ways to form the negative of a word in English,

a- is mostly used in formal or technical words to indicate lacking in or lack of:amorphous (lacking in shape), amoral (lacking in morals)dis- is also used with verbs, adjectives and nouns to form opposites: dislike,disobedient, distrustdys- is used with nouns and adjectives to mean bad or difficult: dysfunctional, dyslexiail- is used to form opposites before the letter l: illogicalim- is used to form opposites before the letters b, m, p: imbalance, immaterial, impossiblein- is used to form opposites, such as: inaccurate, inexactir- is used to form opposites before the letter r: irregular, irresponsibleBut note that a few words starting with r have un- as a negative prefix: unreliablenon-/non are two of the most used negative prefixes added to nouns, adjectives and adverbs toindicate an absence of something: a non-drinker, a non-slip floor, or speaking non-stop.Most of these ‘non’-words are hyphenated in BE: non-cooperation, non-existent but arespelt as one word in AE: noncooperation, nonexistent.un/un- is added to adjectives and indicates the opposite quality from the positive word:unexpected = surprising, unwise = foolish.

when we add a prefix such as in- or un- or dis-,im-, il-, non, ir- etc. to the beginning of adjectives, adverbs and verbs giving them the opposite meaning, are there any hard and fast rules governing all these? For example, before "r" one has to use "ir" like irreparable; before "l",use "il" like illogical;before "t", use "dis" like distrust;before "c, b or s" use "un or in" like uncomfortable/unbelievable and incomplete/incredible/insanity;before "p", use "im" like impossible;before "h or f", use "un" like unhappy/unfettered;before a noun, use "non" like non-smoker, etc.

Prefixes are often used to give adjectives a negative meaning. The most common adjective prefixes are un-, in- and dis-: uncomfortable, inconvenient, dissimilar, ...

in- becomes im- before a root beginning with 'm' or 'p' (immature, impatient), ir- before a word beginning with 'r' (irregular) and il- before a word beginning with 'l' (illegal, illiterate).

in- does not always have a negative meaning; it often gives the idea of inside or into: internal, import, ...

un- and dis- can also form the opposites of verbs: appear/disappear, load/unload, ...

EX. 1 Adjectives and negative prefixes

Gap-fill exercise. Fill out with the words given below.

Top of Form

dis- un- il- im- in- ir-

conscious 0 X 0 0 0 0

patient

relevant

attractive

literate

flexible

regular

agreeable

mature

convenient

tasteful

moral

legal

dis- un- il- im- in- ir-

responsible

significant

possible

legible

honest

rational

explicable

justified

mortal

reversible

destructible

perfect

dis- un- il- im- in- ir-

friendly

soluble

polite

logical

interesting

separable

replaceable

necessary

pleased

EX. 2 Use the correct negative prefixes to give the following adjectives an opposite meaning.

conscious

convenient

correct

employed

fair

formal

friendly

healthy

honest

legal

necessary

pleasant

polite

punctual

regular

satisfactory

successful

tidy

usual

well

Add prefixes to the adjectives below and put them into the correct column in the tableUsual, mature, expensive, enthusiastic, dependent, legible, correct, happy, proper, attentive, interested, perfect, married, credible, possible, literate, fair, kind, numerable, personal, logical patient, visible, important, believable, adequate, sensitive, legitimate, friendly, prudent, polite, modest, intelligent, natural, practical, mobile, Un- In- Im- il-

EX. 1A Adjectives and negative prefixes

Gap-fill exercise. Fill out with the words given below.

Top of Form

Write a X for every possible combination, a 0 (zero) for impossible combinations. The first is done as an example.

dis- un- il- im- in- ir-

conscious 0 X 0 0 0 0

patient

relevant

attractive

literate

flexible

regular

agreeable

mature

convenient

tasteful

moral

legal

dis- un- il- im- in- ir-

responsible

significant

possible

legible

honest

rational

explicable

justified

mortal

reversible

destructible

perfect

dis- un- il- im- in- ir-

friendly

soluble

polite

logical

interesting

separable

replaceable

necessary

pleased

EX. 2A Use the correct negative prefixes to give the following adjectives an opposite meaning.

unconsciousinconvenientincorrectunemployedunfairinformalunfriendlyunhealthydishonestillegalunnecessaryunpleasantimpoliteunpunctualirregularunsatisfactoryunsuccessfuluntidyunusualunwell