Prefix · in favour of / forward
Signals support for something or forward movement: progress, promote, provide, pro-democracy.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Pro- has two main uses in English. The first signals support or a position in favour of something: pro-democracy, pro-choice, pro-government. The second signals forward movement or advancement: progress = move forward; promote = move something to a higher position; provide = put something in front of someone (supply); produce = bring forward (create).
Pro- and anti- are direct antonyms in stance-and-position contexts. pro-government = in favour of the government (vs anti-government = against it). In contexts without an opposing stance, pro- usually signals forward motion: progress, promote, produce, project. Recognising this dual use unlocks hundreds of words at once.
Attaches to nouns and adjectives (with hyphen when signalling support) or to Latin roots (without hyphen):
Pronunciation: /prəʊ/ in British English and /proʊ/ in American English. In Latin-origin words like "progress," the stress pattern of the whole word affects how clearly the pro- sounds.
pro-/prəʊ/
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"Progress" as a noun: /ˈprəʊɡres/ (stress on first syllable). "To progress" as a verb: /prəˈɡres/ (stress on second syllable). Same pattern as "record," "permit," "transfer": nouns stress the first syllable; verbs shift to the second.
"Pro-democracy" (in favour of democracy) takes a hyphen. "Progress," "promote," "provide" do not because they are established fused Latin words. Rule: if you can replace "pro-" with "in favour of" + noun, use a hyphen.
A trick to remember it
Pro- = "forward" or "in favour of": progress = go forward, promote = move upward, provide = put in front of someone. It is also the stance prefix: pro-democracy, pro-choice, pro-environment. Learn both uses and you unlock hundreds of words at once.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"The organisation works to ___ clean water to communities in remote areas without infrastructure."
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
When does pro- take a hyphen?
The prefix pro- signals support for something or forward movement: progress, promote, provide, pro-democracy. In Spanish it usually maps to pro- / a favor de.
The prefix pro- is pronounced /prəʊ/. For example, "progress".
"gress" becomes "progress". It is a typical example of the pro- prefix.
un-, re-, pre-, dis-, over-, in-... every beginning you need to unlock thousands of English words at once.