Vocabulary Match
Grow your English vocabulary with a free, browser-based matching game. See a word, pick its correct meaning, and build retention through play.
WordsNegative Prefixes
English has six ways to say "not", and which one a word takes is decided by its first letter: im- before p, b and m; il- before l; ir- before r. Below: the rule, and the words that ignore it.
Choose your difficulty
Pick a level to start playing. You can switch at any time.
How to play
Read the word, then tap the prefix that makes it negative.
Tip: your progress and best score are saved in this browser only.
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WordsWhat you are actually practicing
English has six common ways to say "not", and the choice is not random: it is decided by the first letter of the word being negated. im- goes before p, b and m because those sounds meet the m of the prefix comfortably; il- before l, ir- before r.
The pattern is about ease of pronunciation, and once you know it, most of the list becomes derivable instead of memorised.
How the game works
You are shown a word and four prefixes. Pick the one that makes it negative. A wrong pick reveals the correct prefix immediately.
Easy uses the most common words. Medium widens the set. Hard uses the full list, including the words that don't follow the rule.
The patterns worth knowing
im- before p, b, m: possible → impossible, polite → impolite, moral → immoral.
il- before l: legal → illegal, logical → illogical.
ir- before r: regular → irregular, responsible → irresponsible.
in- elsewhere: correct → incorrect, complete → incomplete, visible → invisible.
un- is the general case: happy → unhappy, fair → unfair, comfortable → uncomfortable.
dis- is a separate meaning: agree → disagree, honest → dishonest, approve → disapprove.
Strategies that actually raise your score
Look at the first letter before anything else. If it is l, the answer is il-; if r, it is ir-; if p, b or m, it is im-. Three of these cases are decided without knowing the word at all.
un- is the safe guess, not the right guess. It works for most words and is therefore the most common wrong option. Do not default to it when the first letter points elsewhere.
dis- changes meaning rather than adding "not". Disagree is not "not agree" — it is the opposite position. Questions built on dis- words are testing that distinction.
Say the word out loud. inpossible is hard to pronounce and impossible is not. The mouth often rejects the wrong prefix before the rule does.