Morphemes in “powerful”
“powerful” has 2 morphemes: power + -ful.
power
root
+
ful
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are power + -ful.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| power | free root | free | possession of controlling influence |
| -ful | derivational suffix | bound | full of, having |
How the word is built
power → powerful
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “power” is where the chain starts.
Syllables and stress in “powerful” →
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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 "powerful"?
"powerful" has two morphemes: power + -ful.
How do you break "powerful" into morphemes?
power + -ful. The root is "power"; -ful is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "powerful"?
The root of "powerful" is "power", built up as power → powerful.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.