Morphemes in “unbelievable”
“unbelievable” has 3 morphemes: un- + believe + -able.
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are un- + believe + -able.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| un- | derivational prefix | bound | not, opposite of; reverse the action |
| believe (written believ) | free root | free | accept as true; take to be true |
| -able | derivational suffix | bound | capable of being; having the quality of |
How the word is built
believe → believable → unbelievable
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “believe” is where the chain starts.
Morphemes are not syllables
Morphemes are units of meaning; syllables are units of sound. The boundaries often fall in different places, which is why “unbelievable” splits one way for a morphology exercise and another for a syllable count.
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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.