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	hyphen between words ( – )	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	Verb	roadshow, rainfall, milkshake
Noun	Adjective	snow white
Noun	Preposition(phrase)	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	Preposition	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).