What is true about an affix? (Select the two correct answers)

It sometimes changes a base word’s part of speech.

It can come before or after a base word.

In the word unethical, the un-, ethic, and -al are all examples of

Morphemes. what is an affix

1 answer

An affix is a morpheme that is added to a base word (or root) to change its meaning or grammatical function. Affixes can be categorized as prefixes (which are added to the beginning of a word) or suffixes (which are added to the end of a word).

From your provided options, the two correct statements about affixes are:

  1. It sometimes changes a base word’s part of speech. (For example, adding -ness to "happy" changes it from an adjective to a noun: happy → happiness.)

  2. It can come before or after a base word. (Prefixes come before the base word, while suffixes come after the base word.)

In the example of "unethical," "un-" is a prefix, "-al" is a suffix, and "ethic" is the base word. All of these elements (including the base) are morphemes.