17.3 - Prefix and suffix
Prefixes
In previous units you met most of the prefixes and suffixes used with verbs and nouns. Many of these are also used with adjectives, particularly when the latter are derived from nouns and verbs (or the reverse), as in: прописувати (verb) – прописка (noun) – прописний (adjective).
Some prefixes are either specific to adjectives, or are used in a specific way with adjectives, including:
| prefix | denoting | examples |
|---|---|---|
| під-, мало- | diminution, smallness, incompleteness |
підстаркуватий
– getting on a bit, oldish маловідомий – not well known |
| пре-, над- | large size, excess | премудрий
– very wise надмірний – excessive |
| без-, не- | absence or negation | безпорадний
– helpless ненадійний – unreliable |
| між-, понад-, після- | relation, location | міжнародний
– international понадзвуковий – supersonic післявоєнний – post-war |
Suffixes
The standard adjective endings -ий, -ій and -їй have been presented in previous units. In addition to these, there are a large number of suffixes which, when added to the adjective stem, modify the meaning, either significantly or subtly. The type of suffix used may also depend on whether the adjective is derived from a noun, a verb or an adverb, but this issue is of minor importance when reading texts (as opposed to producing them), and is not discussed here. Some of the more frequently used suffixes are given below.
| suffix | denoting | examples |
|---|---|---|
| -овий, -евий, -ачий, ‑ячий, -ський, -цький |
possession, belonging, composition, pertaining to |
мишачий – mouse's братовий – brother's шовковий – (made of) silk київський – Kyivan, relating to Kyiv |
| -уватий, -юватий -астий, -ястий -истий |
similarity, characteristics, approximation, "-ish" | хвилястий
– wavy тернистий – thorny темнуватий – darkish |
| -кий, -ливий | potential for, "-able", "-ible", "-ful" |
гнучкий – flexible мінливий – changeable |
| -езний, -енний | great size or emphasis | глибочезний
– extremely deep довженний – extremely long |
| -енький, -есенький | diminution, evaluation, affection |
малесенький
– tiny величенький – "quite a big sort of ..." |
| -анний, -енний | potential, capacity, "-able" | недозволенний
– not permissible (compare with past participle недозволений – not permitted) неподоланний – insuperable |
| -альний | function, action | опалювальний
– (designed for) heating планувальний – (aimed at) planning |
| -ачий, -ячий, -ущий, ющий |
pertaining to, action, function, quality, "-ing" |
собачий – of a dog, canine невмирущий – immortal, undying |
| -арний, -альний -ичний, -ічний -ійний |
pertaining to foreign loan words |
фінальний
– final метричний – metric енергійний – energetic |
N.B. Because the system of adjectival prefixes and suffixes is so extensive, it is always a good idea to check in the dictionary to ensure you have understood the finer shades of meaning of adjectives of this type.