COMPOUND NOUN
A
compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. A compound noun is
usually [noun + noun] or [adjective + noun], but there are other combinations
(see below). It is important to understand and recognize compound nouns. Each compound
noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.
The Type of
Compound Noun
There are three forms for compound
nouns:.
|
Type
|
Details
|
Examples
of Compound Noun
|
|
Solid/Closed
|
no space or hyphen between words
|
raincoat, waterfall, toothbrush
|
|
Hyphenated
|
check-in, mother-in-law,
twenty-year-old
|
|
|
Oped/Spaced
|
space between words
|
an assistant manager, a cotton
field, blue jeans
|
Combination of Compound Noun
Combination
with a noun or
noun part of
speech other to form compound nouns, among others, as follows:
|
Combination
|
The
result of a combination
|
|
|
Noun
|
Noun
|
newspaper, tooothpaste, bed cover
|
|
Noun
|
roadshow, rainfall, milkshake
|
|
|
Noun
|
snow white
|
|
|
Noun
|
mother-in-law, hanger on,
passer-by
|
|
|
Verb
|
Noun
|
dance floor, swimming pool, break
water
|
|
Verb
|
Verb
|
freeze-dry
|
|
Verb
|
Adjective
|
Tumbledown
|
|
Adjective
|
Noun
|
whiteboard, software
|
|
Adjective
|
Verb
|
dry-cleaning, highlight,
|
|
Adjective
|
Adjective
|
blue-green
|
|
Adjective
|
Forthwith
|
|
|
Preposition
|
Noun
|
in house, on time, offline
|
|
Preposition
|
Verb
|
output, undercut, outlook
|
|
Preposition
|
Adjective
|
over-ripe
|
|
Preposition
|
Preposition
|
Without
|
Pronunciation
Compound
nouns tend to have more stress on the first word. In the phrase "pink
ball", both words are equally stressed (as you know, adjectives and nouns
are always stressed). In the compound noun "golf ball", the first word
is stressed more (even though both words are nouns, and nouns are always
stressed). Since "golf ball" is a compound noun we consider it as a
single noun and so it has a single main stress - on the first word. Stress is
important in compound nouns. For example, it helps us know if somebody said
"a GREEN HOUSE" (a house which is painted green) or "a
GREENhouse" (a building made of glass for growing plants inside).
British/American
differences
Different
varieties of English, and even different writers, may use the open, hyphenated
or closed form for the same compound noun. It is partly a matter of style.
There are no definite rules. For example we can find:
- container ship
- container-ship
- containership
Plural Forms of Compound Nouns
In general we make the plural of a
compound noun by adding -s to the "base word" (the most
"significant" word). Look at these examples:
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
a tennis shoe
|
three tennis
shoes
|
|
one assistant headmaster
|
five assistant
headmasters
|
|
the sergeant major
|
some sergeants
major
|
|
a mother-in-law
|
two mothers-in-law
|
|
Anssistant secretary of state
|
three assistant
secretaries of state
|
|
my toothbrush
|
our toothbrushes
|
|
a woman-doctor
|
four women-doctors
|
|
a doctor of philosophy
|
two doctors
of philosophy
|
|
a passerby, a passer-by
|
two passersby,
two passers-by
|
Note
that there is some variation with words like spoonful or truckful. The old
style was to say spoonsful or trucksful for the plural. Today it is more usual
to say spoonfuls or truckfuls. Both the old style (spoonsful) and the new style
(spoonfuls) are normally acceptable, but you should be consistent in your
choice. Here are some examples:
|
Old style plural (very
formal)
|
New style plural
|
|
|
teaspoonful
|
3 teaspoonsful
of sugar
|
3 teaspoonfuls
of sugar
|
|
Truckful
|
5 trucksful
of sand
|
5 truckfuls
of sand
|
|
Bucketful
|
2 bucketsful
of water
|
2 bucketfuls
of water
|
|
Cupful
|
4 cupsful
of rice
|
4 cupfuls
of rice
|
Some compound nouns have no obvious
base word and you may need to consult a dictionary to find the plural:
- higher-ups
- also-rans
- go-betweens
- has-beens
- good-for-nothings
- grown-ups
Note
that with compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the first noun is like an
adjective and therefore does not usually take an -s. A tree that has apples has
many apples, but we say an apple tree,
not apples tree; matchbox
not matchesbox; toothbrush
not teethbrush.
With
compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the second noun takes an -s for plural.
The first noun acts like an adjective and as you know, adjectives in English
are invariable. Look at these examples:
|
long plural form becomes →
|
plural compound noun
[noun + noun] |
|
100 trees with apples
|
100 apple
trees
|
|
1,000 cables for telephones
|
1,000 telephone
cables
|
|
20 boxes for tools
|
20 tool
boxes
|
|
10 stops for buses
|
10 bus stops
|
|
4,000 wheels for cars
|
4,000 car
wheels
|
Possessive Compound Noun
Possessive
compound, which has
the meaning of ownership, can be formed by adding the apostrophe’s at the end
of this compound nouns.
Example:
father-in-law‘s car
seventeen-year-old‘s birthday
Compound Noun vs. Noun Phrase
•
Adjective and noun
is a word that is
given emphasis (stress);
applies both to the compound or noun phrase.
•
In the compound, only
the first word which was given emphasis.
Example:
a bluebird read a
Bluebird (emphasis on the adjective as the first word) and read football
(emphasis on the noun as the first word).
•
In the phrase, the
emphasis is not only applicable
to the first word.
Example:
a blue bird read a
BLUE BIRD (both
adjective and noun
as the first word as the second word suppression).
