Compound Nouns:

What are Compound Nouns?

Compound nouns are nouns that are made from two or more words. They are combined to create a new meaning.  Each Compound Noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns. 

In this combination, we usually find two parts where one is a noun and the other word can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a preposition. We also find some other combinations. (List is given below) 

There are three types of Compound Nouns: 

• Open Compound Nouns (with spaces)  – air pack, ice cream, root beer, coffee table, fish tank, swimming pool, full moon, roller coaster, bus stop, sleeping bag, first aid, Christmas, tree, Christmas card,  bomb squad, case study, death rate, shock wave, street smarts etc.,

• Closed Compound Nouns (without spaces) – airbag, shotgun, housework, eyelid, toothpaste, schoolhouse, bedroom, rollback, restroom, classroom, breakfast, needlepoint, slingshot, deathtrap, eyewitness, fingerprint, pickpocket, wheelchair  etc.

• Hyphenated Compound Nouns (with hyphens) – baby-sitter, laughing-gas, father-in-law, four-door, daughter-in-law, six-pack, sister-in-law, passers-by, jack-in-the-box, state-of-the-art, shout-out, mind-set, seven-year-old, backpedaling, by-product, do-gooder, no-brainer, plea-a bargain, self-defense, stretcher-bearer, president-elect, ex-partner, great-grandmother, a two-year-old, self-esteem, step-granddaughter, step-great-granddaughter etc., Click here for more Compound Nouns

How to form Compound Nouns:

As we discussed in the beginning paragraph of this topic, we find two parts in every Compound Noun. 

Let us observe these two parts.

The words earth and quake are two different nouns with their own meaning, but when we combine them together they form a new word – earthquake giving us new meaning.

Similarly, the word black is an adjective and board is a noun, but when we combine them together they form a new word – blackboard with a new meaning.

What we find in both these examples is that the first word modifies or describes the second word and when combined with the second word, it tells us what kind of object or person the noun is. And the second part identifies the object or person in question.

The following is a list of Compound Nouns with their different combinations of other words.

How to form plurals of Compound Nouns:

Generally, plural forms of a compound noun are formed by adding –’s’ or –’es’ to the base or important word. The following list illustrates the singular and plural forms of the Compound Nouns.

How to form possessives of Compound Nouns:

Generally, the possessive form of the Compound Noun is formed by adding -’s’ to the ending word, regardless of whether it is singular or plural. The following list illustrates the Possessive Form in singular and plural of the Compound Nouns.

• Types of Nouns
• Proper Nouns
• Common Nouns
• Collective Nouns
• Nouns of Multitude
• Material Nouns
• Abstract Nouns
• Compound Nouns
• The Noun – Case
• Gender of the Noun
• Singular and Plural Nouns
• Possessive Nouns
• A list of Partitives
• Appositive
• List of Countable and Uncountable Nouns
• Countable and Uncountable Nouns