Morphemes in “employee”
“employee” has 2 morphemes: employ + -ee.
employ
root
+
ee
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are employ + -ee.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| employ | free root | free | put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose |
| -ee | derivational suffix | bound | a person who receives or undergoes the action |
How the word is built
employ → employee
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “employ” 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 "employee"?
"employee" has two morphemes: employ + -ee.
How do you break "employee" into morphemes?
employ + -ee. The root is "employ"; -ee is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "employee"?
The root of "employee" is "employ", built up as employ → employee.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.