Morphemes in “beside”
“beside” has 2 morphemes: be- + side.
be
prefix
+
side
root
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are be- + side.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| be- | derivational prefix | bound | make, cover with, thoroughly |
| side | free root | free | a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location |
How the word is built
side → beside
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “side” is where the chain starts.
Break any word into morphemes
Prefixes, roots and suffixes with glosses, free and in your browser.
Open the morphological analyzer →Segmentation derived from MorphyNet (Batsuren, Bella & Giunchiglia, 2021; CC BY-SA 3.0, built from Wiktionary), with hand-written affix glosses and root meanings from WordNet. Reviewed for classroom use; tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many morphemes are in "beside"?
"beside" has two morphemes: be- + side.
How do you break "beside" into morphemes?
be- + side. The root is "side"; be- is a derivational prefix.
What is the root word of "beside"?
The root of "beside" is "side", built up as side → beside.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.