Morphemes in “unfortunate”
“unfortunate” has 3 morphemes: un- + fortune + -ate.
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are un- + fortune + -ate.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| un- | derivational prefix | bound | not, opposite of; reverse the action |
| fortune (written fortun) | free root | free | an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another |
| -ate | derivational suffix | bound | having, full of (adj); to make (verb) |
How the word is built
fortune → fortunate → unfortunate
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “fortune” 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 “unfortunate” splits one way for a morphology exercise and another for a syllable count.
Break any word into morphemes
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.