Compound Nouns

There are many types of nouns in English. Compound nouns are a special type of noun made of two or more words. There are many compound nouns in English, so it is important to understand and learn them well.

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In English, some words can be combined to form compound nouns. A compound noun is a noun made with two or more words. Each compound noun works as a single noun. 

Examples:

• mother-in-law
  
  
• cellular phone
  
  
• chalkboard

Types of compound nouns

There are three types of compound nouns in English

1. Solid or closed compound nouns (meaning there is no space or hyphen between words)

• bedroom
  
  
• toothbrush

2. Hyphenated compound nouns

• sister-in-law
  
  
• take-off

3. Open (spaced) compound nouns

• washing machine
  
  
• full moon

Usually, there are no specific rules for using a hyphen or a space in a compound noun. However, you should keep it consistent.

Example:

• paperclip
  
  
• paper-clip
  
  
• paper clip
  

All three forms of this compound noun are acceptable in English.

Hyphens are not used as often in modern American English.

You can also use a dictionary to check for the acceptable way to write compound nouns.

Forms of compound nouns

Here are some common ways to form compound nouns by combining two or more English words:

noun + noun	football website printer cartridge
noun + verb	haircut sunrise heartbeat
verb (-ing) + noun	washing machine swimming pool training room
noun + preposition or prepositional phrase	mother-in-law ladies-in-waiting hanger-on
preposition + noun	underworld upstairs downtown
adjective + noun	full moon white board hot water
verb + preposition	hold-up checkout breakthrough

Plural compound nouns

To create the plural form of a compound noun, the plural ending is usually added to the noun. If compound words are formed with two nouns, the plural ending is added to the main noun.

Examples:

• lady-in-waiting => ladies-in-waiting
  
  
• mother-in-law => mothers-in-law
  
  
• outcome => outcomes
  
  
• superpower => superpowers
  
  
• football => footballs
  
  
• overthrow => overthrows
  
  
• assistant secretary of state => assistant secretaries of state

When a compound noun is formed with two nouns (printer cartridge; football), the second noun becomes plural. The first noun acts as an adjective because it describes the second noun. The second noun is the base noun.

Examples:

• printer cartridge => printer cartridges
  
  
• peach tree => peach trees
  
  
• wall clock => wall clocks
  
  
• question mark => question marks

Some compound nouns do not have an obvious base word. You should use a dictionary to check the correct spelling of these compound nouns.

 

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