Compound nouns

Compound nouns

By Jeraldin Ballesteros

What is a compound noun?

A compound noun is a noun that is formed from two or more words. Compound nouns are very common. The main noun is normally the last one.

What is a compound noun?

The meaning of the whole compound is often different from the meaning of the two words on their own. The stress in a compound noun is usually on the first word of the noun: bed^room

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE?

Compound words usually consist of two words

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

'Football' is a compound noun.

• False

• True

Multiple Choice

The stress in a compound noun is always on the second word of the noun:

^paper.CLIP.

• False

• True

Types of compound nouns

There are three different types of compound nouns: open, hyphenated, and closed. They will be classified according to their form.

Closed Form

These compound nouns simply push two words together to form a single word, with no additional punctuation or spaces. Examples include softball, redhead, makeup, and keyboard.

Hyphenated Form

These compound nouns connect two or more words with one or more hyphens between them. Examples include six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law.

Open Form

These are compound nouns that function as one unique word but are still written as two or more separate words, with a space between each component. Examples include a post office, middle class, and attorney general.

Multiple Choice

"Living room" is...

• a closed compound word

• an open compound word

• a hyphenated compound word

Multiple Choice

"Fireman" is...

• a closed compound word

• an open compound word

• a hyphenated compound word

Multiple Choice

"Mother-in-law" is...

• a closed compound word

• an open compound word

• a hyphenated compound word

To keep in mind!

Many compounds begin as open, progress to hyphenated, and finish as closed. Because of the modern preference to avoid hyphenating words as much as possible, newly created compounds tend to develop closed forms earlier than they might have in the past.

Multiple Select

Please choose the correct one.

• On-line

• Online

Multiple Select

Please choose the correct one.

• Take-out

• Takeout

To keep in mind!

Truth be told, there are no rules governing why some compound words are hyphenated, some are closed, and others remain open. Sort of like our friend, the irregular verb, you simply have to study a word list or consult your dictionary.

To keep in mind!

Because there are no hard and fast rules regarding the writing of compound nouns, stylebooks advise writers to consult a dictionary when in doubt. My advice, learn them from the heart!

To keep in mind!

Compound nouns are commonly formed from the following word combinations:

*The term particle is used for a word which could be either an adverb or a preposition.