Morphemes in “carefully”
“carefully” has 3 morphemes: care + -ful + -ly.
care
root
+
ful
suffix
+
ly
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are care + -ful + -ly.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| care | free root | free | the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something |
| -ful | derivational suffix | bound | full of, having |
| -ly | derivational suffix | bound | in the manner of; every (as in daily) |
How the word is built
care → careful → carefully
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “care” is where the chain starts.
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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 "carefully"?
"carefully" has three morphemes: care + -ful + -ly.
How do you break "carefully" into morphemes?
care + -ful + -ly. The root is "care"; -ful is a derivational suffix, -ly is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "carefully"?
The root of "carefully" is "care", built up as care → careful → carefully.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.