The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what must be reported, and what to teach.
Most medical terms are built from a small set of reusable parts. Learning roughly thirty of them lets you decode words you have never seen — which pays off in the Vocabulary section AND in the Anatomy, Biology and Chemistry sections, where the same parts keep reappearing.
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Key points
Understand these first
A term is usually prefix + root + suffix: the prefix modifies, the root names the body part, the suffix says what is happening to it.
Prefixes of amount and rate: a-/an- (without), hyper- (above normal), hypo- (below normal), brady- (slow), tachy- (fast), poly- (many).
-emia means a blood condition, so anemia = without enough blood cells and hyperglycemia = high blood sugar.
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Study first
Where to start
Decode 'bradycardia' cold: brady- (slow) + cardi- (heart) + -ia (condition) = a slow heart rate. You never needed to memorize the whole word.
Decode 'hepatitis': hepat- (liver) + -itis (inflammation) = inflammation of the liver.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
Mixing up -ectomy (remove it) with -ostomy (make an opening) — one takes tissue out, the other creates a passage.
Reading hyper- and hypo- too quickly; they are two letters apart and mean opposite things.
Assuming every root is Latin — some are Greek, so two roots can name the same organ (nephr- and ren- are both kidney).
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Commonly tested
What comes up most
Learn prefixes and suffixes FIRST — they are fewer than the roots and do more work.
Practice by splitting long words with a slash: peri/cardi/um, poly/ur/ia. If you can split it, you can define it.
❓ Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots: TEAS & HESI FAQs
What should I focus on first when studying Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots?
Decode 'bradycardia' cold: brady- (slow) + cardi- (heart) + -ia (condition) = a slow heart rate. You never needed to memorize the whole word. Decode 'hepatitis': hepat- (liver) + -itis (inflammation) = inflammation of the liver.
What are the warning signs of Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots a nurse must report?
Mixing up -ectomy (remove it) with -ostomy (make an opening) — one takes tissue out, the other creates a passage. Reading hyper- and hypo- too quickly; they are two letters apart and mean opposite things. Assuming every root is Latin — some are Greek, so two roots can name the same organ (nephr- and ren- are both kidney).
What do I need to know about Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots for the TEAS or HESI?
A term is usually prefix + root + suffix: the prefix modifies, the root names the body part, the suffix says what is happening to it. Prefixes of amount and rate: a-/an- (without), hyper- (above normal), hypo- (below normal), brady- (slow), tachy- (fast), poly- (many). Suffixes of process: -itis (inflammation), -ectomy (surgical removal), -ostomy (surgical opening), -oscopy (looking inside), -pathy (disease), -ology (study of). Roots of place: cardi- (heart), pulmon- (lung), hepat- (liver), nephr-/ren- (kidney), gastr- (stomach), oste- (bone), my- (muscle), neur- (nerve), derm- (skin).
What are the most commonly tested points on Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots?
Learn prefixes and suffixes FIRST — they are fewer than the roots and do more work. Practice by splitting long words with a slash: peri/cardi/um, poly/ur/ia. If you can split it, you can define it.
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Quick Tip
A term is usually prefix + root + suffix: the prefix modifies, the root names the body part, the suffix says what is happening to it.