Here's a breakdown:
How Prefixes Change Grammatical Meaning:
* Part of Speech: Prefixes can change the part of speech of a word. For example:
* "happy" (adjective) --> "unhappy" (adjective) - The prefix "un" doesn't change the word's grammatical function, but it adds a negative meaning.
* "act" (verb) --> "react" (verb) - The prefix "re" changes the meaning of the verb, but not its grammatical function.
* "happy" (adjective) --> "happily" (adverb) - The prefix "ly" changes the word from an adjective to an adverb.
* Meaning: Prefixes can add or change the meaning of a word, sometimes dramatically:
* "believe" --> "disbelieve"
* "connect" --> "disconnect"
* "do" --> "undo"
How Prefixes DON'T Change Grammatical Meaning:
* Prefixes rarely change a word's core grammatical function: They might modify the meaning or add a nuance, but they generally don't change whether a word is a noun, verb, adjective, etc.
Examples:
* "pre" in "pre-flight" simply adds a temporal aspect to the word "flight" (meaning "before flight").
* "re" in "re-read" means to read again. It modifies the action of reading but doesn't change the word's verb status.
Conclusion:
While prefixes can definitely influence the meaning and sometimes the part of speech of a word, they don't always change its grammatical function.