dis-

Dis-: Apart

Level 4

Dis- before a verb means apart or in all directions.

How It Works

VerbWith dis-Meaning
donidisdonito hand out
ŝiridisŝirito tear apart
ĵetidisĵetito throw in all directions
falidisfalito fall apart

Dis- is used before action words. With a word of motion it shows that several things move away in different directions. With a word that already means breaking, such as ŝiri, it makes the splitting stronger.

The root dis (apart) also gives disigi (to separate) and disiĝi (to go apart from each other). Before a word of joining, dis- can undo the joining, as mal- does, but mal- is usually the better choice there.

Examples (5)

  1. Ewa disdonas la programojn al la gastoj.

    Ewa hands out the programs to the guests.

    Disdonas means gives out to many people.

  2. La infanoj disiĝis post la lernejo.

    The children went their separate ways after school.

    Disiĝi means to go apart from each other.

  3. Kenji disŝiris la malnovan leteron.

    Kenji tore the old letter to pieces.

    Dis- shows that the letter came apart.

  4. La malnova muro disfalis en la nokto.

    The old wall fell apart in the night.

    Disfali means to fall into pieces.

  5. La gazeto disvastigis la novaĵon tra la tuta lando.

    The newspaper spread the news throughout the whole country.

    Disvastigi means to spread in many directions.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

dis-Level 4Dis-: Apart

Learn This First

Dis- is another prefix, like re-.