Morphemes in “offshore”
“offshore” has 2 morphemes: off- + shore.
off
prefix
+
shore
root
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are off- + shore.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| off- | derivational prefix | bound | away, apart (particle used as a prefix) |
| shore | free root | free | the land along the edge of a body of water |
How the word is built
shore → offshore
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “shore” 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 "offshore"?
"offshore" has two morphemes: off- + shore.
How do you break "offshore" into morphemes?
off- + shore. The root is "shore"; off- is a derivational prefix.
What is the root word of "offshore"?
The root of "offshore" is "shore", built up as shore → offshore.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.