Affixes in English Grammar

In English grammar, affix refers to a grammatical element which is combined with a word or phrase to create derived and inflected forms. Affix is broadly categorized into three different types including prefix, infix and suffix. A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word so as to alter or change its meaning (for example, ‘Disadvantage’, here ‘dis’ is used as a prefix). A suffix is placed at the end of a word in order to create a new word (for example, ‘Careful’, here ‘full’ is used as a suffix). Further, an infix is placed in the middle of the word. However, the English language has no infixes, but they are mostly found in Greek or American Indian Languages.

The process of adding a morpheme (affix) to a word to produce a different form of that word or to create a new word with different meaning is known as affixation. Some example words are mentioned below:

•    Start- Restart
•    Appear- Disappear
•    Dark- Darkness
•    Fond- Fondness
•    Car- Cars
•    Act- Action

Definition of Affix

A word element (a prefix, suffix or infix), which can be joined to a base or root to create a new word is known as an affix.  An affix can be added at the beginning of the root or it can be placed at the end of a root so as to form a new form of the word.

There are different kinds of affixes

1. Prefix
2. Suffix
3. Infix
4. Circumfix
5. Simulfix
6. Suprafix

Some prefix words are mentioned below:

•    Market - Supermarket
•    Work - Overwork
•    Load - Overload
•    Happy - Unhappy
•    Developed - Underdeveloped    
•    Convenient – Inconvenient
•    Marine – Submarine

Some suffix words are mentioned below:

•    Comfort - Comfortable 
•    Gold - Golden
•    Fear - Fearless
•    Enjoy - Enjoyment
•    Child - Childish
•    Friend - Friendship
•    Meaning- Meaningless

Some words containing both prefix and suffix are mentioned below:

•    Inconsolable  (in – prefix) (able – suffix)
•    Unlikely  (un- prefix) (ly- suffix)
•    Immeasurable (im- prefix) (able- suffix)
•    Unpredictable (un- prefix) (able- suffix)
•    Disrespectful  (dis- prefix) (ful-suffix)
•    Multicultural (multi- prefix) (al -suffix)
•    Unconsciousness (un- prefix) (ness- suffix)

What are Clauses?

A clause is a group of words that encompasses a subject and a verb. Clauses are instrumental in expressing the thoughts and ideas of an individual. In other words, clauses allow us to express ourselves and convey our expression to others. For instance, ‘I love pizza, especially with cold drinks’. Clauses are entirely different from phrases. A phrase is a collection of related words that does not contain a subject-verb agreement. For example, ‘A small, white kitten’. Here, the phrase contains a subject, but it does not have a verb. There are two types of clauses, including independent clause and a dependent clause.

1. Independent Clause: An independent clause is also known as a main clause. It can stand on its own therefore it is called as an independent clause. An independent clause has all information to complete a sentence. In an independent clause, a subject gives a better idea about the sentence and the verb explains what the subject is doing. In simple words, an independent clause describes a complete thought. 

For example:

•    Nancy is playing with a dog at the park. (Here, ‘Nancy’ is the subject and ‘Playing’ is the verb. It expresses a complete thought) 

•    The pizza burned because I forgot to take it out of the oven on time. (Here, ‘Pizza’ is the subject and ‘Burned’ is the verb. Hence, the clause explains a complete thought and stand on its own)

2. Dependent Clause:

A dependent clause is recognized as a subordinate clause. It contains a subject or a verb, but it does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot stand on its own. It is combined with one or more independent clauses to form a sentence. It is dependent because it begins with dependent words such as although, since, before, after, though, in order to, because, if, what, when, who, which, why, etc.

For example:

•    Does anyone know where we are going tonight? (Here, ‘We’ is the subject and ‘Going’ is the verb, but the clause does not express a complete thought)

•    I forgot where I put the house keys. (Here, ‘I’ is the subject and ‘Put’ is the verb, but the clause does not explain a complete thought and cannot stand on its own as a sentence)

Types of Dependent Clause

•    The Adjective Clause

•    The Adverbial Clause

•    The Noun Clause

What are Phrases?

A phrase is two or more words, which are related to each other. It does not express a complete thought like a clause as it does not contain a subject or a verb. For instance, Broken into thousands of pieces. (Here, the phrase does not explain a complete thought)

To express a word in a specific way is also called a phrase. A phrase can be short and can be long and it appears within a clause. However, a phrase can be a clause or it contains a clause within it. In a sentence, phrases can have several functions as these can be used as subjects, objects, modifiers, complements or adverbials. Depending on the words, a phrase can be recognized as a noun, adjective, verb, adverb or preposition in a sentence.

Types of Phrases

1. Noun Phrase: A noun phrase contains a place, person or thing and the modifiers that explain it. The head word in the noun will be either a noun or pronoun.

For example:

•    I consider him my favorite actor. 

•    He gave the small child a candy. 

2. Verb Phrase: A verb phrase refers to a predicate of a sentence. In the verb phrase, the head word is the verb, which expresses action or link subject and complement.

For example:

•    The writer is writing a new story.

•    Those girls are not dancing properly.

3. Adjective Phrase: An adjective phrase refers to a group of adjectives. It describes the noun with the help of adjectives.

For example:

•    The cost of the dress was too high.

•    My little pet makes me very happy.

4. Adverb Phrase: When two or more words, act as an adverb, it is called as adverb phrase. It can change or modify a verb, adverb or adjective.

For example:

•    She will sit quietly.

•    I will finish my work in a minute.

5. Prepositional Phrase: In prepositional phrase, a preposition is the head word, which acts as a noun, adjective or an adverb in a sentence.

For example:

•    The gift inside the big box is mine.

•    The house beside the church is the one I want to purchase.

More detailed explanation on Types of Phrases

Uses of Subjunctive

In English language, the subjunctive is used to structure sentences that do not explain known facts. These types of sentences include someone’s desire, opinion, belief, intention and motive. Besides, the subjunctive mood is also used to form statements that are imaginary and contrary to a fact. These statements are often seen in dependent clauses. The subjunctive is usually visible in some forms and tenses. It is the rare form of verb that is used to convey a suggestion, a wish or command that is different from the fact. Let us see some examples of verbs in the subjunctive mood:

•    The management decided that the proposal be passed instantly. (Here, proposal is passed becomes proposal be passed)

•    Shelly said it was important that Rachel guard the jewelry box. (Here, Rachel guards becomes Rachel guard)

•    The professor asked that Johan submit his assignments before the end of the month. (Here, Johan submits becomes Johan submit)

•    The sports teacher insists that his students be on time. (Here, students are on time becomes students be on time)

•    It is essential that the exam begin early (Here exam begins becomes exam begin)

Rules to Use Subjunctive

Subjunctive is used in a sentence after certain verbs that are mentioned below:

•    To desire (that)

•    To recommend (that)

•    To ask (that)

•    To suggest (that)

•    To urge (that)

•    To advise (that)

•    To insist (that)

•    To request (that)

•    To demand (that)

•    To propose (that)

•    To command (that)

Expressions Used before the Subjunctive

The subjunctive is generally used after some expressions that are listed below:

•    It is recommended (that)

•    It is imperative (that)

•    It is crucial (that)

•    It is a bad idea (that)

•    It is vital (that)

•    It is important (that)

•    It is urgent (that)

•    It is a good idea (that)

•    It is essential (that)

•    It is best (that)

•    It is desirable (that)

Looking more detailed description about Subjunctive click here.

What are Adjectives

Adjectives are the words that describe nouns in a better way. An adjective is word that explains a thing or a person by giving its information, including size, color, behavior, age, shape, etc. Besides, adjectives modify noun so as to make the sentence more clear and concise for readers.

For example:

•    Long necked dinosaurs
•    Cheetah is the fastest animal
•    A blue eyed girl
•    A round shaped dining table
•    A square shaped storage box

Types of Adjectives

Adjectives are categorized into 5 different types that are as follows:

1.    Adjective of quality: This type of adjective is basically used to describe the characteristic of a noun. Large, big, beautiful, charming, sincere, honest, sober, kind, heavy, skinny are words that are used as adjectives in a sentence to explain a noun.

For example:

•    Nancy is a kindhearted person.
•    New York is a popular city.
•    Elephant is a large animal.

2.    Adjective of quantity: This type of adjective is used to describe the quantity of the noun or pronoun. It does not give you the exact figure, but it explains the amount of a noun in relative or whole terms. Few, many, little, sufficient, half, etc. are the words that are used as adjectives to show the amount of a noun or pronoun.

For example:

•    Many people came to Washington to see the cherry blossom.
•    They have completed half of the distance of Virginia.
•    Few people participated in the Boston Marathon.

3.    Adjective of number: This type of adjective is used in a sentence to show the number of nouns and their place in an order. It is categorized into three different parts:-

a)    Definite numeral adjective: It shows the accurate number of nouns or the order of the nouns. For example, one, two, three, four, etc. are cardinals, whereas first, second, third, fourth, etc. are ordinals.
b)    Indefinite numeral adjective: It gives a basic idea of the amount rather than showing the exact amount. For example, many, some, few, all, several, etc.
c)    Distributive numeral adjective: It is an adjective that is used to describe individual nouns within the whole amount. For example, each, another, other, neither, either, etc.

For example:

•    I have purchased twelve eggs. (Definite numeral adjective)
•    I have booked all the tickets available. (Indefinite numeral adjective)
•    Every citizen needs to follow the traffic rules (Distributive numeral adjective)

4.    Demonstrative adjective: This type of adjective is used to indicate a particular noun or pronoun. This, these, those, that words are used as adjectives to point out a noun.

For example:

•    I love those flowers.
•    That laptop belongs to Sherry.
•    This book is useful for test preparation.
 
5.    Interrogative adjective: This type of adjective is used to ask questions about nouns as well as in relation to nouns. Where, which, what, why, whose are interrogative adjectives.

For example:

•    What type of dress is it?
•    Whose child is crying?
•    Which is the shortest way?

Kinds of Interjection

An interjection is a part of speech, which is used in a sentence to express an emotion or a feeling. Generally, an interjection is used to show sudden emotions or sentiments, which can be any kind of excitement, joy, hatred, surprise or sorrow. There are many common words that are used in the English language with a purpose to express some kind of feeling or emotion. Hey, Bravo, Oh, Alas, Phew, Ah, Uh, Wow, Yipee, Hurrah, etc. are some of the words that are known as interjections in English grammar. Injections are written forms of sounds that are verbally express by humans. There are several interjections that you may hear every day. The most common interjections are discussed below.

Kinds of Interjection

1.  Interjection for Joy: If you want to show happiness or excitement in the sentence then you can use words like Wow! Hurray! Hurrah! Ha!

For example:

•    Wow! That’s great news.

•    Hurray! We won the football match.

2.  Interjection for Sorrow or Pain: When you want to express sadness in the sentence, then you can use words like Alas! Ah! Oh! Ouch!

For example:

•    Alas! She is no more.

•    Ouch! I cut my finger.

3.  Interjection for Surprise: In order to express a feeling of being surprised, you can use words like What! Well! Hey! Eh! Oh! Whoa!

For example:

•    Hey! I can’t believe you are right here with me.

•    What! He attempted suicide.

4. Interjection for Approval: If you want to convey your feelings of approval in the sentence, then you can use words like Well done! Bravo!

For example:

•    Well done! Your assignment is really good.

•    Bravo! You did a great job.

5. Interjection for Greeting: If you want to greet someone or convey your emotion of warmth to the other person, then you should use words like Hello! Hey! Hi!

For example:

•    Hi! How have you been.

•    Hey! It’s good to see you after a long time.

What is Imagery

Imagery is used to describe something vividly. It is a literary text that is used by poets and authors to create or depict a visual representation of ideas and thoughts in a reader’s mind. By using imagery, a poet or an author tries to rejuvenate the five senses of readers and compel them imagine the piece of writing with the help of different sense of body. Imagery is used to give a realistic feeling to the readers and involves them for a long time. Usually, dominating forms of imagery captures all the senses of human and describe ideas and concepts through metaphors. In other words, imagery is a tool that creates a picture in a reader’s mind and allows him to touch, taste, smell, hear and see what a poet is explaining in his poetry. With the help of imagery, an author or a poet portrays different images or pictures and involve readers in their world.

Kinds of Imagery

The imagery is categorized into seven types that are as follows:

1. Visual Imagery: This type of imagery is commonly used to create a visual image or scene in the poetry. In order to draw an image in readers’ mind, a poet uses visual imagery.

2. Auditory Imagery: This type of imagery is used to create any kind of sounds; it can be a sound of lighting, rain or thunder. By using auditory imagery, a poet allows a reader to imagine a noise or a sound of a particular thing, which is described in the poetry.

3. Olfactory Imagery: Olfactory imagery is used to stimulate the sense of smell of a reader. It relates to some kind of scents or odours.

4. Gustatory Imagery: This kind of imagery is used to create a sense of taste. If a poet is explaining about some kind of food, sweet or snack, then gustatory imagery is used.

5. Tactile Imagery: This type of imagery is used to create a feeling of touch in a reader’s mind. A touch can be cold, hot, soft or hard.   

6. Kinesthetic Imagery: It is used to give a feel of some kind of movement. By using this type imagery, a poet creates a sense of movement or tension in a reader’s mind.

7. Organic Imagery: This type of imagery is used to recreate a sense of fear, hunger, pain, thirst and fatigue.