Mr.Maru: what are you doing sparky?
Sparky: I'm practicing my English, of course.
Mr.Maru: Are you having any trouble?
Sparky: yeah, I can't quite hear everything on the CD.
Mr.Maru: you should re-listen to it a few times.
Sparky: I should RE? listen to it.
Mr.Maru: yeah, listen to it again.
Sparky: oh, I understand. I don't think re-listen is a word though.
Mr.Maru: yes it is.
Sparky: I'm going to look it up. (Sparky gets his dictionary) See! It's not in the dictionary.
Mr.Maru: It doesn't have to be. We can use re- with most verbs.
Sparky: I think you are lying. I don't think re-listen is a word.
Mr.Maru: (sigh) Let me explain.
How do you use the prefix re? Can you use it with all verbs? What are the rules for using prefix re? Let's talk about some examples and rules.
 The prefix re
The prefix 're-' can be used to mean 'to do again, to repeat'. It is incredibly useful prefix because it can be used with many verbs to create other ones. For example, He recycled the plastic. (He put the plastic through another cycle.)
They reprinted the report after the printer jammed. (They printed the report one more time because the printer jammed.)  Iterative Verbs vs. Terminative Verbs
We can't use the prefix re on all verbs though. Some verbs called terminative verbs can not be repeated. We can only use iterative verbs with the prefix re. For example, X He re-stopped the car. (We can only stop the car once. The verb 'stop' is terminative. It can not be repeated.)
O He re-studied the material for the test. (You can study many times. The verb 'study' is iterative. It can be repeated.) X I re-finished the race. (You can not finish the race twice. The verb 'finish' is terminative.)
O Be careful! -> I refinished the table. (You can finish a table twice. This verb 'finish' means 'to give a new surface to something'.) Newer Words with the Re Prefix
English is always growing and new words are always being created. You can see new words being created all the time. For example, there is now a popular social networking site called Twitter. People 'tweet' or 'twitter' about their life, thoughts or news. When people send someone else's tweet or twitter out again, we call it a retweet, meaning to tweet again. Have you heard a new re- word? Let me know in the comments. Are you ready for a quiz? Prefix re quiz (choose the most natural answer)
1) He _______ after it crashed. A) started again his computer B) restarted his computer C) started his computer again 2) After the experiments they did, they had to _____________. A) rethink the solution B) think about the solution again C) think the solution again 3) She _________ many times, but couldn't find the answer. A) worked the problem again B) worked on the problem again C) reworked the problem Answers1) B) - The verb 'restart' is the most natural. The verb 'to restart' means to start a computer again that is now running. Restarting the computer means to shut it down and then start it again. 2) A) - The verb 'think' is the most natural. The verb 'to rethink' means to think again about a certain situation, or look at it from a different perspective or view. 3) C) - The verb 'rework' is the most natural. The verb 'to work' is an iterative verb and can be repeated many times. That's it for this week. Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions about grammar or word usage, please let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 
Can you re-blog this? (prefix re)
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