Prefixes

As in many other languages, Irish adds prefixes to words to create new words. If you become familiar with the prefixes below, you may double your [vocabulary]! Note that some prefixes are separated from the base word by a [hyphen], and some prefixes cause lenition.

ain-   in-, un-, not-, over-

Examples: ceart (right) becomes aincheart (unjust), fios (knowledge) becomes ainfhiosracht (over-curious).

an-   very

Example: maith (good) becomes an-mhaith (very good).

ath-   re-

Example: déan (do, make) becomes athdéan (redo, remake).

ceann-   chief, main, -headed

Example: litir (letter) becomes ceannlitir (capital letter).

comh-   mutual, joint

Example: ceol (music) becomes comhcheol (harmony).

dea-   good, well

Example: scéal (news, story) becomes dea-scéal (piece of good news).

dearg-   red-, real, utter

Example: gráin (hatred) becomes dearg-ghráin (intense hatred).

dé-   bi-, di-, two-

Example: taobh (side) becomes déthaobhach (bilateral).

di-   de-, dis-, in-, un-

Example: scéal (news, story) becomes díscéil (uninformative).

do-   in-, un-, not-

Example: déanta (done, complete) becomes dodhéanta (impossible, hard to do),

il-   many, multi-

Example: eochair (key) becomes ileochair (master key).

in-   capable of

Example: creidte (believed) becomes inchreidte (believable).

lán-   total

Example: cead (permission) becomes lánchead (full permission).

réamh-   pre-, preliminary

Example: feiceáil (seeing) becomes reamhfheiceáil (foresight).

mion-   small, micro-

Example: insint (telling) becomes mioninsint (detailed report).

sár-   exceeding, ultra-

Example: riail (') becomes sár-riail (golden rule).

ró-   over-

Example: minic (often) becomes rómhinic (too often).

so-   easy

Example: briste (broken) becomes sobhriste (fragile, easily broken).