8/17/2016 Compound Nouns

CompoundNouns
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/CompoundNouns.htm

TheFarlexGrammarBook>EnglishGrammar>PartsofSpeech>Nouns>CompoundNouns

CompoundNouns
Definition
Acompoundnounisanounconsistingoftwoormorewordsworkingtogetherasasingleunittonameaperson,
place,orthing.Compoundnounsareusuallymadeupoftwonounsoranadjectiveandanoun,butother
combinationsarealsopossible,aswell.

Generally,thefirstwordinthecompoundnountellsuswhatkindofpersonorthingitisorwhatpurposehe,she,or
itserves,whilethesecondworddefinesthepersonorobject,tellinguswhoorwhatitis.Forexample:
water+bottle=waterbottle(abottleusedforwater)
dining+room=diningroom(aroomusedfordining)
back+pack=backpack(apackyouwearonyourback)
police+man=policeman(apoliceofficerwhoisaman)

Likeothernouns,compoundnounscanbemodifiedbyotheradjectives.Forexample:
Ineedtobuyalargewaterbottle.
Thatsabeautifuldiningroom.
Myoldbackpackisstillmyfavorite.
Alonepolicemanfoiledtheattemptedrobbery.

Youcanrecognizecompoundnounsbecausethemeaningofthetwowordsputtogetherisdifferentthanthe
meaningofthewordsseparately.Forexample,waterandbottlehavetheirownseparatemeanings,butwhenwe
usethemtogethertheymeanaparticulartypeofbottlethatwedrinkwaterfrom.

Formingcompoundnouns
Asmentioned,compoundnounsareformedbycombiningtwoormorewords,withthemostcommoncombinations
beingnoun+nounoradjective+noun.However,combinationsusingotherpartsofspeecharealsopossible.Below
arethevariouscombinationsusedtocreatecompoundnouns.

Noun+noun
Thereareagreatnumberofcompoundnounsformedusingthenoun+nouncombination.Forexample:
backpack
bathroom
bathtub
bedroom
busstop
fishtank
football
handbag
motorcycle
shopkeeper
tablecloth
toothpaste
wallpaper
waterbottle
website

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wristwatch

Adjective+noun
Therearealsomanycompoundnounsthatareformedusingtheadjective+nouncombination.Forexample:
fullmoon
blackberry
blackbird
blackboard
cell(ular)phone
mobilephone
hardware
highway
greenhouse
redhead
sixpack
smalltalk
software
whiteboard

Othercombinations
Althoughthenoun+nounandadjective+nouncombinationsarethemostcommon,therearealsoplentyofother
possibilitiesforformingcompoundnouns.Forexample:

Combination Examples

noun+verb haircut,rainfall,sunrise,sunset
noun+preposition hangeron,passerby
noun+prepositionalphrase brotherinlaw,motherinlaw
noun+adjective cupful,spoonful
verb+noun breakfast,washingmachine,runway,pickpocket,swimmingpool
preposition+noun bystander,influx,onlooker,underpants,upstairs
verb+preposition checkin,checkout/checkout,drawback,lookout,makeup
adjective+verb drycleaning,publicspeaking
preposition+verb input,output,overthrow,upturn

Writingcompoundnouns
Compoundnounsareverycommon,bothinwrittenandspokenEnglish,andtherearespelling,punctuation,and
pronunciationnormsthatwemustbeawareofifwewanttousethemcorrectly.

Thethreewrittenformsofcompoundnouns
Writingcompoundnounsisabitcomplicatedduetothefactthattheycantakethreedifferentforms.

First,opencompoundnouns(orspacedcompoundnouns)arethosethatarewrittenastwoseparatewords,
suchaswashingmachine,swimmingpool,andwaterbottle.

Second,therearehyphenatedcompoundnouns,asincheckin,hangeron,andmotherinlaw.

Third,thereareclosedcompoundnouns(orsolidcompoundnouns)thosethatarewrittenasoneword,such
asrainfall,drawback,andtoothpaste.

Unfortunately,therearentanyrulesthattelluswhichofthethreeformsisacceptableforaparticularcompound

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noun.Somecompoundnounsarecommonlywrittenintwoforms,asinwebsite/websiteorcheckout/checkout,
whileothers,suchasbusstop,arestrictlyusedinoneform.Wheremorethanoneispossible,theformthatismore
commonlyusedmaydependonthevarietyofEnglish(AmericanEnglishvs.BritishEnglish,forexample),thestyle
guideofapublication,orthepersonalpreferenceofthewriter.

Ifyourenotsurewhichofthethreeformstouse,itsimportanttocheckagood,uptodatedictionary.Ifyouare
relyingonthespellcheckerinawordprocessor,rememberthatthishasitslimits.Forexample,spellcheckisgood
forcheckingwhetheraparticularcompoundnouncanbewrittenasoneword(closed)however,ifwewritea
compoundnounastwowords(open)anditshouldbewrittenasoneword(closed),orifwewriteitwithahyphen
anditshouldbewrittenwithoutahyphen,spellcheckwillnotcatchthemistakes.

Finally,rememberthat,nomatterwhichwaythecompoundnouniswritten,italwaysfunctionsgrammaticallyasa
singleunit.

Pluralizingcompoundnouns
Weusuallypluralizeacompoundnounbyaddingansorestothemainword,orthedefiningword,ofthe
compoundnoun.Thisisusuallythesecondword,butnotalways.Forexample:

Singular Plural

bedroom bedrooms
football footballs
waterbottle waterbottles
fullmoon fullmoons

BUT

Singular Plural

secretarygeneral secretariesgeneral
motherinlaw mothersinlaw
passerby/passerby passersby/passersby

Whenitsnotobviouswhichofthewordsisthedefiningword,wepluralizetheendofit.Forexample:

Singular Plural

haircut haircuts
checkin checkin
checkout/checkout checkouts/checkouts
upturn upturns

Pronouncingcompoundnouns
Ingeneral,compoundnounsarepronouncedwiththeemphasisonthefirstpartoftheword.Forexample:
BEDroom
BLACKbird
CHECKin
GREENhouse
MAKEup
WATERbottle

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Pronouncingcompoundnounsinthiswayhelpsusdistinguishwordsthatformacompoundnounlikeblackbirdand
greenhousefromotherinstanceswhenthesamewordswouldappeartogether,asin:Lookatthatbeautifulblack
bird,orIlikethatgreenhouseonthecorner.

Althoughwenormallystressthefirstwordinacompoundnoun,therearecertainexceptionstothispattern.For
example,wedisregardthisrulewhenpronouncingcompoundnounsthatincludetitlesorpropernouns,asin
SecretaryGENeralandMountRUSHmore.

Ifindoubt,youcanuseagooddictionarytodeterminewhichsyllableshouldbeemphasized.

Quiz

1.Compoundnounsaremadeupof________words.

a)twoormore
b)two
c)many
d)oneortwo

2.Closedcompoundnounsarewritten________.

a)astwowords
b)asoneword
c)withahyphen
d)withacomma

3.Whichofthefollowingsentencesdoesnotcontainacompoundnoun?

a)Didyouseethatnoisyblackbird?
b)Letsgoeatbreakfast.
c)Idlovetoliveinagreenhousewithareddoor.
d)Wouldyouliketoseemynewswimmingpool?

4.Whichofthefollowingcompoundnounsiswrittenincorrectly?

a)spoonful
b)tablecloth
c)hangeron
d)passerby

5.Ifcapitallettersshowemphasisinpronunciation,whichwordispronouncedincorrectly?

a)attorneyGENeral
b)PASSERby
c)BACKpack
d)PRIMEminister

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