Spanish: An Essential Grammar

elección election reelección reelection

orientar to direct reorientar to redirect

cartucho remanufacturado re-manufactured cartridge

industria repotenciada re-vitalized industry

In addition, in popular speech re-is used to intensify the meaning of the

word to which it is attached, not only in the form re-, but with increasing

strength as rete- (particularly in parts of Latin America) and requete-:

rebronceado very suntanned

un viaje relindo[LA] a wonderful trip

requetebién/retebién [LA] brilliant

Sobre-

This commonly expresses an abundance or excess, sometimes equivalent

to ‘over-’, ‘super-’ or ‘extra’:

sobrepoblado overpopulated

sobrehumano superhuman

una sobrepaga a bonus, extra payment

sobresaliente outstanding

Anti-, super-, contra-, tra(n)s-, pos(t)

The increasing popularity of anti-in modern English with the meaning of

‘against’ or ‘opposed to’, and of super-to denote ‘extra’, ‘in addition’, or

an ‘excess of’, is reflected in modern Spanish. These prefixes are found

increasingly in the Spanish media, especially to form new nouns and adjec-

tives with modern connotations.

Super-is also found as an adverb.

Contra- appears in Spanish as the equivalent of English counter-or contra-.

Tras-or trans-occur in many words and are not always interchangeable.

crema antiarrugas anti-wrinkle or anti-aging cream

superficie antiadherente non-stick surface

supercarburante high-octane fuel

29.2.6

29.2.5

1111

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

12111

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

20111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

30111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

40

41111

29

Word
formation

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