Morphemes in “fourth”
“fourth” has 2 morphemes: four + -th.
four
root
+
th
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are four + -th.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| four | free root | free | being one more than three |
| -th | derivational suffix | bound | state or quality of (warmth); ordinal number (fourth) |
How the word is built
four → fourth
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “four” is where the chain starts.
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Prefixes, roots and suffixes with glosses, free and in your browser.
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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 "fourth"?
"fourth" has two morphemes: four + -th.
How do you break "fourth" into morphemes?
four + -th. The root is "four"; -th is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "fourth"?
The root of "fourth" is "four", built up as four → fourth.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.