What Is a Compound Noun

Most compound nouns contain at least one noun. The other word or words may be an
adjective, preposition, or verb. The second word is almost always the main word, with
the first word modifying it or adding to its meaning.

Compound words, a large group of words to which compound nouns belong, are
expressed in three ways.

Closed form - has two words that have melded together to make one word, like:
softball, redhead, makeup, and keyboard.
Hyphenated form examples are: six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law.
Open form - has the words next to each other, like: post office, upper class, and
attorney general.

Sometimes, the hyphen disappears as the word is more widely used, and it becomes a
closed word.

Compound Noun List

Here are types of compound words and examples. The asterisks indicate types of
compound words that may be compound nouns.

adjective/adjective - blue-green,
adjective/noun - blackboard, full moon
adjective/preposition - forthwith
adjective/verb - dry-cleaning, highlight
noun/adjective - snow white
noun/noun - toothpaste, football, fish tank
noun/preposition (adverb) - love-in, hanger on, passer-by
noun/verb - haircut, browbeat, rainfall
preposition/adjective - over-ripe
preposition (adverb)/noun - underground, underworld, bystander, onlooker
preposition/preposition - without
preposition (adverb)/verb - output, undercut, outlook, overthrow
verb/adjective - tumbledown
verb/noun - swimming pool, breakwater, washing machine
 verb/preposition (adverb) - takeout, check-in, drawback, lookout
verb/verb - freeze-dry

Plural and Possessive Rules

There are no hard and fast rules concerning plurals of compound words, especially
since some hyphens are omitted after time. In hyphenated words, usually the s goes
at the end of the main word, like daughters-in-law or mayors-elect. Sometimes it is at
the end, like in go-betweens and higher-ups. In the open form, the s is added to the
main word, like: bills of fare, assistant secretaries of state, and notaries public.

To make a compound word possessive, you usually add an apostrophe s at the end of
the word, like: mother-in-laws car or five-year-olds birthday. If the compound word is
plural, it can get a little strange with two s sounds close together, like: fathers-in-laws
attire. If you can, it would be better to reword the sentence so the plural compound
word does not need to be possessive, like: The attire of the fathers-in-law.

heart-rending.....tan nt ci lng
hard- working......lm lng vt v
easy- understand.....d hiu
home- keeping........gi nh
good -looking.....trng p mt
hand-made.....lm th cng
horse-drawn.......ko bng nga
newly-born......s sinh
well-lit...... sng t
White-washes....qut voi trng
clean-shaven....my ru nhn nhi
clear-sighted....sng sut
dark-eyed.....c mt huyn
short-haired....c tc ngn
ash-colored .....c mu tro
 lion-hearted....dng cm
thin-lipped......c mi mng
long-sighted (or far sighted)......vin th hay nhn xa trng rng

First part: type or Second part: what Compound

purpose or who noun

police man policeman

boy friend boyfriend

fish tank fish tank

dining table dining-table

Compound elements Examples

noun + noun bedroom

water tank
motorcycle
printer cartridge

noun + verb rainfall

haircut
train-spotting

noun + adverb hanger-on

passer-by

verb + noun washing machine

driving licence
swimming pool

verb + adverb lookout

take-off
drawback

adverb + noun onlooker

bystander
Compound elements Examples

adverb + verb output

overthrow
upturn
input

adjective + noun greenhouse

software
redhead
Trong ting Anh nhng ch nh "room number" (s phng) gm hai phn: "room" v "number".
T "room" b ngha cho t "number", ngc vi th t ting Vit l tnh t thng i sau danh
t. Tuy nhin, nhng ch gc Hn Vit th tnh t i trc danh t nh: "tiu hc".

"Trng tiu hc" = trnghc], "tiu hc" b ngha cho "trng" (Vietnamese order), nhng
trong "tiu hc", "tiu" b ngha cho "hc" (Chinese order).

Trong ch "room number", danh t chnh l "number".

Examples:

My room number is 101. All the room numbers on the left are even.

(S phng ca ti l s 101. Tt c nhng s phng bn tri l s chn.)

This big hotel has a large number of rooms (=many rooms).

(Khch sn ln ny c nhiu phng.)

Rule 1: Plurals in the main element (for noun-noun compounds)

When you change a compound into plural, the main noun takes the "s". (Khi bn i mt danh t
ghp sang s nhiu th ch danh t chnh thm "s" m thi.)

Mother-in-law => mothers-in-law (m v) ["mother" l ch chnh phi thm "s"]

Passer-by => passers-by (khch qua ng) ["passer" l ch chnh phi thm "s"]

Tng t: Vice president (ph tng thng) => vice presidents; vice squad => vice squads (police
dealing with vice like gambling and prostitution) (cnh st kim tc chng nn c bc v mi
dm)

Rule 2: Plurals in the main element (for adjective-noun compounds)

For certain compounds composed of a root noun and an adjective, when changed into plural,
only the chief noun takes an "s". (Mt s danh t ghp gm bi mt danh t gc v mt tnh t,
khi sang s nhiu ch danh t gc thm "s" thi.)

Secretary-general => secretaries-general (tng th k)

Notary public => notaries public (chng kh)

Sergeant-major => sergeants-major (thng s trng, chc b nhim h s quan cao nht)

Lieutenant general => lieutenants general (trung tng)

Court martial => courts martial (to n binh)

Note: The adjective that follows the main noun remains unchanged in plural. (Tnh t theo sau
danh t chnh khng thay i s nhiu)

Rule: Plurals in both the first and last element

C vi danh t khi sang s nhiu c hai ch u i sang s nhiu.

Gentleman farmer => gentlemen farmers (ngi tri ch giu c nui gia sc nh b nga cho
vui, ch khng c kim li)

Woman doctor => women doctors (n bc s)

Rule: Plurals in the last element

Nhng ch sau y khi sang s nhiu ch ch cui c "s" m thi.

Assistant doctor => assistant doctors (y-s ph t)

Boy friend => boy friends (bn trai)

Breakdown => breakdowns (s suy nhc thn kinh)

Grown-up => grown-ups (ngi ln, ngi trng thnh)

Take-off => take-offs (chuyn bay ct cnh)

Nhn xt thm:

The committee on promotion => the promotion committee (u ban thng chc, 2 cch u ng)

The arrival of the train => the trains arrival (xe la ti, 2 cch u c)

But:

The girl in the corner (c thiu n ng gc phng) (cant change to "the corner girl")

The roof of the house (mi nh) (cant change to "the houses roof")

The top of the page (phn u trang) (not "the pages top")