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English Vocabulary: Compound Nouns (Nouns That Act Like Adjectives!)

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Melanie

English Vocabulary: Compound Nouns (Nouns That Act Like Adjectives!)

May 6, 2010 by Melanie

English Grammar: Compound Nouns | English Teacher Melanie

Have you noticed that sometimes a noun is used to describe another noun?

Here are some examples from the listening lesson “Stars on Ice”:

figure skating
ice skating
world-class figure skaters
a heart attack
four-time world champion

You probably learned in English class that adjectives are used to describe or provide more information about nouns. However, in English it is very common to use another noun to describe a noun. The two nouns together form a new kind of noun. It’s called a compound noun.

For some English learners, compound nouns are difficult to understand because they don’t exist in many other languages. Your language may use a different structure.

 

Let’s look at the compound noun car accident. The noun car gives more information about the type of accident.

You CANNOT say:

an accident of the car
a car’s accident
an accident car

While these phrases might be acceptable in your language, the only correct phrase in English is the compound noun car accident.

My sister was in a car accident on the weekend. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt.

The highway was closed because of a huge car accident.

 

Here are some more examples of compound nouns:

a bus driver
a paper bag / a plastic bag
chocolate milk [= a type of milk]
milk chocolate [= a type of chocolate]
ice cream
a hotel room
a parking lot
a lottery ticket
My 5-year-old son
a computer part
police officer

 

NOTES:
– ALWAYS REMEMBER: in English, the adjective comes BEFORE a noun [including a noun that acts like an adjective!]

– You learn compound nouns by doing as much reading and listening in English as possible.

– When numbers are used as an adjective, (time, age, etc.), remember to use a hyphen:

My son is 5 years old.
My 5-year-old son starts kindergarten this year.

Kurt Browning won the World Championships four times.
Four-time World Champion Kurt Browning performed a routine in hockey skates.

– A compound noun is very different from a possessive noun:

Cheryl’s car
= the car belongs to Cheryl. It is her possession.

Cheryl was in a car accident.
= Cheryl was in an accident. Adding ‘car’ gives more information about what kind of accident she was in.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Grammar Tagged With: adjectives, nouns

Comments

  1. shiunkle says

    July 10, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    Very useful explanation. Many thanks.

  2. Dash677 says

    October 2, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    Thanks, it helps alot.

  3. TAREK . KSEIBAT says

    January 21, 2013 at 6:54 am

    Hi ,Melanie
    I’d like to ask you about five -year -old why we don’t put S with the word year ?

    • Melanie says

      January 23, 2013 at 11:30 am

      Hi, Tarek!

      Here is the difference:
      “My son is 5 years old.”
      “My 5-year-old son starts school this year.”

      In this case, ‘son’ is the noun & ‘age’ is the adjective. When a number is used as an adjective before a noun, there is no ‘s’ (‘year’ is not plural).

      = )

      • Mozhdeh says

        March 22, 2014 at 11:17 am

        Dear Melanie
        Check theses word:
        1- Consumer behavior
        2- Customer trust
        Are they compound nouns?
        It seems that they show possession! I wanna ask that why “Customer’s trust” is wrong?
        Thanks in advance

        • Melanie says

          March 24, 2014 at 4:34 pm

          Hi, Mozhdeh,

          You are correct that they seem to show possession, however there is a difference between ‘consumer behaviour’ and ‘a consumer’s behaviour.’

          ‘Consumer behaviour’ & ‘customer trust’ are general terms. They are concepts. They are not talking about one specific consumer or customer.

          1. ‘Consumer behaviour’ is the study of why & how all people in a society or culture make decisions on what to buy. It’s something that people study.
          “Our organization spends a lot of time studying consumer behaviour.”

          2. It’s the same with ‘customer trust.’ It’s not talking about one specific customer. It’s a concept, an idea.
          “Customer trust is very important to our organization.”

          3. Also, ‘wanna’ is not a word! It is the way that ‘want to’ is pronounced when native speakers speak quickly. You should never write ‘wanna,’ especially in a professional context and especially when you are writing to an English teacher!

          = )

  4. Tadeo says

    August 13, 2013 at 4:08 am

    Thank you teacher Melanie. I now know the Compound Noun.

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