Which word generated by students contains a derivational suffix?

Which word generated by students contains a derivational suffix?

• A. moves
• B. moving
• C. moved
• D. mover

Answer: (D)

The word "mover" contains a derivational suffix. A derivational suffix is a linguistic element that is added to a base word to create a new word, often altering its meaning or changing its part of speech. In this case, the base word is "move," and the suffix "-er" indicates an agent or performer of an action, meaning someone who moves. The other words listed—"moves," "moving," and "moved"—do not contain derivational suffixes. They are instead inflected forms of the verb "move," indicating tense (as in "moved" for past tense), aspect (as in "moving" for the present participle), or number (as in "moves" for third person singular present). These variations do not change the base meaning or grammatical category of the original word; they simply modify it to fit different grammatical contexts. Thus, "mover" is the only word in the list that illustrates the use of a derivational suffix.

The word "mover" contains a derivational suffix. A derivational suffix is a linguistic element that is added to a base word to create a new word, often altering its meaning or changing its part of speech. In this case, the base word is "move," and the suffix "-er" indicates an agent or performer of an action, meaning someone who moves.

The other words listed—"moves," "moving," and "moved"—do not contain derivational suffixes. They are instead inflected forms of the verb "move," indicating tense (as in "moved" for past tense), aspect (as in "moving" for the present participle), or number (as in "moves" for third person singular present). These variations do not change the base meaning or grammatical category of the original word; they simply modify it to fit different grammatical contexts. Thus, "mover" is the only word in the list that illustrates the use of a derivational suffix.