Morpheme Basics
What is a morpheme?
The smallest unit of meaning in a word.
Which word BEST means “full of color”?
A) colorful
B) colorless
C) coloring
D) recolor
colorful
Which word correctly shows the meaning “full of juice”?
A) juicy
B) juicyy
C) juicey
D) juicful
A) Juicy
Which word means “to act again”?
A) react
B) inactive
C) proactive
D) action
A) react
Which word MOST likely describes something with TWO parts?
A) bicycle
B) unicycle
C) tricycle
D) monocycle
A) Bicycle
Break the word sunflower into its base elements.
sun + flower
Why does beautiful change the y → i before adding -ful?
Because base words ending in y change to i before adding -ful.
Why is funny spelled with two n’s?
Because the base word has a short vowel, so the consonant doubles before adding -y.
In the word inactive, what does the prefix in- tell us?
not
What does the prefix mono- tell us in monologue?
one
In the word replay, which part is the prefix?
re-
Which sentence uses a -ful word correctly?
A) The glass was care when he dropped it.
B) She gave a helpful answer.
C) He was help the teacher.
D) The class helpfull finished early.
B) She gave a helpful answer.
Which word correctly drops the silent e before adding -y?
A) smoke → smokey
B) smoke → smoky
C) smoke → smokyy
D) smoke → smokeey
B) Smoky
Which word BEST shows action happening between people?
A) reaction
B) interaction
C) inactive
D) actor
B) Interaction
Which explanation BEST uses morphology?
A) Triangle means not a shape
B) Triangle is a fast shape.
C) Triangle means tiny shape.
D) Triangle has three angles because tri means three.
D) Triangle has three angles because tri means three.
Is the suffix -ed free or bound?
bound morpheme
A student says:
“Powerful means someone who has power right now.”
What is the real meaning of powerful in this sentence?
Powerful means full of power (describing a quality), not an action happening now.
Which word MOST likely means “covered with frost”?
A) frosty
B) frostful
C) refrost
D) frosting
A) Frosty
Why is action a noun instead of a verb?
Because the suffix -ion turns the base into a noun.
A microscopic object is MOST likely:
A) very loud
B) very small
C) very fast
D) very bright
B) Very small
How many morphemes are in players?
three (play + er + s)
Which word is MOST likely built correctly using -ful?
A) successfull
B) successful
C) succesful
D) successfull
B) successful
A student writes shiney. What would you tell them to make it correct?
The silent e should be dropped before adding -y, so the correct spelling is shiny.
Use morphology to explain what a proactive student does.
Takes action before there is a problem / acts ahead of time.
Use morphology to explain what a preview is.
To view something before