<\/a><\/div>\nThe prefix ir<\/em> is an interesting prefix for a number of reasons:<\/p>\n1. It means not.<\/em><\/strong> There are many prefixes that can mean not<\/em>, such as de, a, un, non<\/em>; however, ir<\/em> also means not<\/em>, which is interesting to me because I don’t think it sounds like it should mean not<\/em>! To me, it sounds like it should mean again<\/em> or repeating<\/em> or something besides not!<\/p>\n2. It only comes before base words that begin with R. In other words, you do not put ir<\/em> in front of most any word to mean not,<\/em> like you often do with un<\/em> or non.<\/em> <\/p>\n3. This isn’t really interesting–but I like to say it whenever I teach about prefixes. A prefix is a letter or group of letters that you “affix” (which is why it and suffixes are called affixes) to the beginning of a word. It is important to remember that a prefix does not change the spelling of the base word. That is especially crucial in spelling ir <\/em>words because the ir<\/em> precedes an R already–and you must keep the base word’s spelling, so when you add this prefix to a word, you will ALWAYS have two R’s in a row: irregular, irresponsible<\/em>, etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n4. It is most often put before a word that is should never come before: regardless<\/strong>. We hear people constantly say irregardless, which is, of course, an oxymoronic word because less<\/em> means without<\/em> (or not) and ir<\/em> means not.<\/em> I guess that makes it sort of like using a double negative! You do not put ir<\/em> before regardless because regardless already means without regard<\/em>. With ir<\/em> in front of it, you are saying not without regard<\/em>, I guess…. Anyway, irregardless is not a word. So don’t use it. Okay? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\nNote: It is correct, however, to use irrespective<\/em>, which is a substitute (some of the time) for when you are tempted to say irregardless<\/em>. <\/p>\nHowever, there are many base words that begin with R that can have ir<\/em> put before them to mean NOT or the opposite of what the base word means before ir<\/em> is added to it. <\/p>\nHere is a list to get you started. Notice how if you take the ir<\/em> off, you have a positive base word (or one that means yes–yes regular, yes responsible, yes revocable, etc.) However, with the ir,<\/em> the word means not<\/em>—not regular, not responsible, not revocable<\/em>, etc.<\/p>\nRemember: You know more than you think you know!<\/p>\n
And remember: Use what you already know to learn even more!<\/p>\n
irregular<\/li>\n irresponsible<\/li>\nirrevocable<\/li>\nirrefutable<\/li>\nirradiate<\/li>\nirreconcilable<\/li>\nirredeemable<\/li>\nirreducible<\/li>\nirrefutable<\/li>\nirregularity<\/li>\nirrelevant<\/li>\nirreverence<\/li>\nirreligious<\/li>\nirreparable<\/li>\nirreplaceable<\/li>\nirreversible<\/li>\nirresolute<\/li>\nirretrievable<\/li>\nirresistible<\/li>\nIrrelevant<\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prefix ir is an interesting prefix for a number of reasons: 1. It means not. There are many prefixes that can mean not, such as de, a, un, non; however, ir also means not, which is interesting to me because I don’t think it sounds like it should mean not! To me, it sounds like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[630,628,640,82,632],"tags":[177,172,133,171,174,175,178,176,173],"yoast_head":"\n
WORDY WEDNESDAY-Prefix ir - Character Ink<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n