German Grammar Explained /
Negative prefixes
In German, we can make variations of adjectives by adding prefixes and suffixes that result in a word derived from another word.
In some cases, these prefixes serve to negate an adjective and come up with a word that is the opposite of what it would be without the negating prefix (Negationsvorsilben).
You should know the following negative prefixes:
a-, des-, miss-, un-, il-, in-, ir-, non-
Let's look at some example:
typisch
typical | → | atypisch
untypical |
interessiert
interesting | → | desinteressiert
uninteresting |
verständlich
understandable | → | missverständlich
misleading |
verständlich
understandable | → | unverständlich
incomprehensible |
legal
legal | → | illegal
illegal |
akzeptabel
acceptable | → | inakzeptabel
unacceptable |
real
real | → | irreal
unreal |
verbal
verbal | → | nonverbal
nonverbal |
If you know a word, you can usually construct its opposite using a prefix or a suffix. A good way to build your vocabulary is to come up with a list of words like the one above and then find out what their opposites are ;)