Formação de palavras em inglês: prefixos, sufixos e mais
As palavras são construídas, não inventadas. O inglês tem seis processos principais de formação de palavras e, assim que você os compreende, seu vocabulário dobra automaticamente. Navegue pelas categorias, pesquise qualquer padrão e veja cada processo ilustrado com exemplos reais.
48 items · 6 topics
"un- (unhappy)"
Adds the meaning "not" or reversal to a word
"She was unhappy with the result, so she undid all her work."
"re- (rewrite)"
Means "again" or "back" — repeating an action
"He had to rewrite the report after getting feedback."
"mis- (misunderstand)"
Means "wrongly" or "badly"
"I misunderstood the question and gave the wrong answer."
"pre- (preview)"
Means "before" in time or position
"We watched a preview of the film before its release."
"dis- (disagree)"
Negates or reverses the meaning of a word
"I completely disagree with that decision."
"over- (overestimate)"
Means "too much" or "above"
"She overestimated how long the journey would take."
"under- (underpay)"
Means "too little" or "below"
"Many workers are underpaid for the work they do."
"inter- (international)"
Means "between" or "among" groups
"International trade connects economies across the world."
"-tion / -sion (information)"
Forms nouns from verbs — the act or result of an action
"The information was clear and easy to understand."
"-ness (happiness)"
Forms nouns from adjectives — a state or quality
"Her happiness was visible to everyone in the room."
"-ful (beautiful)"
Forms adjectives meaning "full of" a quality
"The view from the mountain was truly beautiful."
"-less (careless)"
Forms adjectives meaning "without" something
"A careless mistake cost the team the match."
"-er / -or (teacher)"
Forms nouns meaning "a person who does something"
"The teacher explained the lesson very clearly."
"-able / -ible (readable)"
Forms adjectives meaning "capable of being done"
"The instructions were readable and well organised."
"-ly (quickly)"
Forms adverbs from adjectives — describes how something is done
"She spoke quickly so we had to listen carefully."
"-ment (enjoyment)"
Forms nouns from verbs — a process or result
"The enjoyment of reading grows with practice."
"sunflower (sun + flower)"
Two nouns combined to create a new noun
"She planted a row of sunflowers along the garden fence."
"notebook (note + book)"
Compound noun formed by joining two base words
"He wrote down every new word in his notebook."
"well-known (well + known)"
Compound adjective with a hyphen — modifies a noun
"She is a well-known author in academic circles."
"lookout (look + out)"
Compound noun formed from a verb and a particle
"The sailor kept a lookout for rocks near the coast."
"breakfast (break + fast)"
Historical compound where the original meaning is less obvious
"She never skips breakfast before an early shift."
"heartbeat (heart + beat)"
Compound noun where both parts contribute to the meaning
"The doctor listened carefully to the patient's heartbeat."
"eco-friendly (eco + friendly)"
Compound adjective combining a prefix-like element with an adjective
"They switched to eco-friendly packaging last year."
"software (soft + ware)"
Modern compound noun where meaning has become specialised
"Good software makes complex tasks much simpler."
"to email (noun → verb)"
A noun used directly as a verb without any change in form
"Please email me the report by Friday afternoon."
"a must (verb → noun)"
A verb used as a noun to describe an obligation or necessity
"A good dictionary is a must for language learners."
"to google (proper noun → verb)"
A brand name converted into an everyday verb
"If you're unsure, just google it."
"to text (noun → verb)"
The noun "text" repurposed as an action verb
"I'll text you when I arrive at the station."
"a download (verb → noun)"
The verb "download" used as a countable noun
"The download took only a few seconds on fast Wi-Fi."
"to water (noun → verb)"
The noun "water" functioning as a verb
"She waters her plants every morning before work."
"a try (verb → noun)"
The verb "try" used as a noun in informal speech
"It's worth giving it a try before you decide."
"to bottle (noun → verb)"
The noun "bottle" used as a verb meaning to put in bottles or suppress feelings
"He tended to bottle up his emotions rather than talk."
"app (application)"
Clipping — a word shortened by removing one or more syllables
"Download the app to track your daily vocabulary goals."
"NASA (acronym)"
Acronym — an abbreviation pronounced as a word
"NASA launched a new mission to study the Martian surface."
"BBC (initialism)"
Initialism — letters pronounced individually, not as a word
"The BBC broadcast the match live to millions of viewers."
"exam (examination)"
Clipping from the front — the start of the word is removed
"The final exam covers all units from the semester."
"flu (influenza)"
Back-clipping — the end of the word is dropped
"He stayed home for three days with a bad case of flu."
"ASAP (as soon as possible)"
Acronym used widely in written and spoken communication
"Please send the revised document ASAP."
"fridge (refrigerator)"
Clipping with a spelling change — very common in British English
"Put the leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow."
"sci-fi (science fiction)"
Blend abbreviation combining the start of two words
"She loves reading sci-fi novels set in distant galaxies."
"happy → happiness"
Adjective converted to noun via the suffix -ness
"True happiness comes from meaningful connections with others."
"teach → teacher"
Verb converted to noun via the agentive suffix -er
"A great teacher can inspire students for years to come."
"nation → national → nationalise"
Chain derivation — each step adds a new suffix to change word class
"The government decided to nationalise the rail network."
"child → childish"
Noun converted to adjective via the suffix -ish
"Stop being childish and discuss the problem calmly."
"clear → clearly → clarity"
Multiple derivations from the same root word
"Speak with clarity so your audience can follow easily."
"act → action → reactive"
Prefix and suffix together transform the original word
"A reactive approach often leads to poor long-term decisions."
"beauty → beautify"
Noun converted to verb via the suffix -ify
"They planted trees to beautify the town centre."
"real → realise → realisation"
Three-step derivation chain across three word classes
"The realisation that she had forgotten her keys came too late."
Perguntas frequentes
O que é a formação de palavras em inglês?
A formação de palavras refere-se aos processos pelos quais novas palavras são criadas a partir de palavras existentes. Os seis processos principais são a prefixação, a sufixação, a composição, a conversão (derivação zero), a abreviação e a derivação. Compreender esses padrões ajuda a deduzir o significado de palavras desconhecidas e a expandir o vocabulário de forma sistemática.
Qual é a diferença entre prefixo e sufixo?
Um prefixo é adicionado ao início de uma palavra para mudar seu significado — por exemplo, "un-" em "unhappy". Um sufixo é adicionado ao final da palavra, muitas vezes alterando tanto o significado quanto a classe gramatical — por exemplo, "-ness" transforma o adjetivo "happy" no substantivo "happiness". Ambos são tipos de afixos.
O que é conversão na formação de palavras?
A conversão (também chamada de derivação zero) ocorre quando uma palavra muda de classe gramatical sem nenhuma alteração na grafia ou pronúncia. Por exemplo, "email" começou como substantivo, mas agora também é usado como verbo ("I'll email you"). A conversão é muito produtiva no inglês moderno, especialmente no vocabulário de tecnologia.
Em que a composição difere da derivação?
A composição une duas ou mais palavras independentes para formar uma nova palavra, como "sunflower" ou "notebook". A derivação adiciona morfemas presos (prefixos ou sufixos) a uma base para criar uma nova palavra, como adicionar "-ness" a "happy". A composição combina raízes; a derivação adiciona elementos gramaticais.
Por que a formação de palavras é importante para o aprendizado de vocabulário?
Aprender os padrões de formação de palavras é uma das estratégias de vocabulário mais eficientes disponíveis. Quando você sabe que "-tion" forma substantivos a partir de verbos, pode decifrar centenas de palavras novas instantaneamente. As pesquisas em aquisição de segunda língua mostram consistentemente que a consciência morfológica acelera significativamente tanto a compreensão de leitura quanto o crescimento do vocabulário ativo.
Veja a formação de palavras em ação — ouça falantes nativos e perceba como prefixos, sufixos e palavras compostas aparecem na fala natural.
Pratique com vídeos →