 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Le préfixe a– et sa variante
The French prefix a– is added to adjectives and nouns to create their antonyms; it’s sometimes called the "alpha privative" (a privatif).
The most common English equivalents are a– and non-.
Par exemple…
| français | English | ajouté à | added to | |
| amoral | amoral | moral | moral | |
| apesanteur | weightlessness | pesanteur | weightiness | |
| areligieux | areligious non-religious |
religieux | religious | |
| asymétrie | asymmetry | symétrie | symmetry | |
| atoxique | non-toxic | toxique | toxic |
Variation: an-
While a- is the most common spelling, it can only be added to words that begin with a consonant. When the a privatif precedes a vowel or h, a- changes to an-
| français | English | ajouté à | added to | |
| anaérobie | anaerobic | aérobie | aerobic | |
| analphabète | illiterate | alphabète | literate | |
| anharmonique | anharmonic | harmonique | harmonic |
Related lessons
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
The letter combination il has various pronunciations depending on what precedes it.
Le festival de Cannes is one of the most famous film festivals in the world, and it takes place every May in the beautiful south of France. This issue of Lawless French à fond is all about movies and movie festivals.
A self-study French course divided into 30 loosely themed units consisting of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation lessons; cultural tips; and assorted quizzes along the way.
An indirect object is a person that someone or something does something to indirectly. In both French and English, indirect objects are often replaced with indirect object pronouns.