Morphemes in “coworkers”
“coworkers” has 4 morphemes: co- + work + -er + -s.
co
prefix
+
work
root
+
er
suffix
+
s
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are co- + work + -er + -s.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| co- | derivational prefix | bound | together, with, jointly |
| work | free root | free | exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity |
| -er | derivational suffix | bound | a person or thing that does (agent); also 'more' when comparative |
| -s | inflectional suffix | bound | plural (nouns) / third-person singular present (verbs) |
How the word is built
work → worker → coworker → coworkers
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “work” 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 "coworkers"?
"coworkers" has four morphemes: co- + work + -er + -s.
How do you break "coworkers" into morphemes?
co- + work + -er + -s. The root is "work"; co- is a derivational prefix, -er is a derivational suffix, -s is a inflectional suffix.
What is the root word of "coworkers"?
The root of "coworkers" is "work", built up as work → worker → coworker → coworkers.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.