What is the role of prefixes in word formation?

• A. Prefixes change the pronunciation only.
• B. Prefixes change the meaning of the root word when added to the beginning.
• C. Prefixes are optional and rarely used.
• D. Prefixes always create new words.

Answer: (B)

Prefixes attach to the front of a base word to change its meaning. They signal negation, time or order, degree, and other nuances, helping form a related word with a new sense. For example, un- shifts meaning to the opposite (happy → unhappy), re- indicates repetition or again (do → redo), and pre- places an action before the original time (heat → preheat). The core idea is that prefixes modify what the word means, not just how it sounds. They’re common and productive in English, creating many new words from familiar roots, rather than being optional or rarely used, and they don’t always make an entirely new word in every case, but they almost always give a word with a related, altered meaning.