Final answer:
It is true that students should learn inflectional suffixes like '-ed' and '-s' before derivational suffixes like '-ful' and '-less' because inflectional suffixes are simpler and do not change the word's part of speech. The correct option is a.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is whether students should learn inflectional suffixes like '-ed' and '-s' before learning derivational suffixes like '-ful' and '-less'. This statement is generally true because inflectional suffixes are more straightforward and alter the tense or number of words without changing their part of speech.
In contrast, derivational suffixes can change the meaning and the part of speech of the root word. For example, the suffix '-ed' is added to verbs to indicate the past tense, as in 'walked', where it can be pronounced as [d], [id], or [t], depending on the final sound of the verb.
The suffix '-s' is used to make nouns plural or verbs third person singular present tense, such as 'cats' or 'runs'. Derivational suffixes like '-ful' (meaning 'full of') and '-less' (meaning 'without') are used to form new words such as 'hopeful' and 'hopeless', which often become adjectives. The correct option is a.