Handout 69

Problems With Adjectives: Forming Opposites

There are three primary ways of forming adjectival opposites in English – antonyms, prefixes and by using one of the comparative adjectives less or least.

Antonyms are different words that have an opposite meaning.  This is not usually a problem for ESL students as the meanings are not manipulated by word constructions.  Examples of antonyms are big and small, short and tall, fat and skinny, happy and sad.

Prefixes can create opposite meaning.  A prefix is a meaningful letter or group of letters that comes in the front position of a word that changes or modifies its meaning.  Some of these prefixes include letter groups like un, in, im, dis, mis, and non.  Unfortunately, there are no reliable rules to predict affixial opposites, so if you are unsure of the construction, consult a dictionary.  The following are some examples of affixial opposite using these examples.

            You must be careful.  Just because a word starts with one of these groups of letters does not necessarily mean it is an affixial opposite.  For example, understand, incense, implement, discover, mischief and nonagon (a 9 sided polygon) are not affixial opposites.  Occasionally, a word that has what appears to be an affixial opposite may have the same meaning.  For example, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.

            Less and least are comparative adjectives that can indicate an opposite meaning.  This form of adjective can provide subtle shades of meaning that can be useful in presenting ideas.  The rule is to use less when you are making a comparison between two things or people, and least when making a comparison between three or more things or people.  For example, it is more polite to say “She is the least attractive girl in the group” than it is to say “she is the ugliest girl in the group”.  Also, by using the combination least attractive, you are suggesting the possibility that she may not be ugly, but that the other girls are just more beautiful. 

            Do not use less or least with an affixial opposite.  For example, do not say “he is less unfortunate”… say “he is less fortunate” or “he is unfortunate”, but not both in the same construction.

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