More than one word compound noun

Compound nouns are used to identify a class of people, places, things or a particular name. It is an important topic for all students, especially for those who are preparing for competitive examinations. One or more questions from this topic are asked in every competitive examination.

What is a Compound Noun? 

A compound noun is a type of noun that is formed by combining two or more words to create a new noun. There are three types of compound nouns, including Open or spaced compound nouns, hyphenated compound nouns, and closed or solid compound nouns.

Definition of Compound Noun : 

“Compound Noun is a noun that is made with two or more words together.” 

We can also say – “Compound Nouns are made by joining more than one word together.” 

Types of Compound Nouns –

There are three main types of Compound Nouns. 

1. Closed or Solid Compound Nouns

2. Spaced or Open Compound Nouns

3. Hyphenated Compound Nouns

Closed or Solid Compound Nouns : 

Closed or Solid Compound Noun is made up by joining two words without any spaces or hyphens. 

Examples: Sunflower, Football, Bathroom, Rainfall etc.

Spaced or Open Compound Nouns : 

It is made up of joining two words with a space. 

Examples : Cricket bat, Fast food, Ice cream, Rain forest etc. 

Hyphenated Compound Nouns : 

Hyphenated Compound Noun is made up by joining two or more words by a hyphen. 

Examples : Mother-in-law, Self – esteem, Father-in-law etc. 

Compound Nouns Examples 

Washing machine, Greenhouse, Dining – table, Bus stop, Swimming pool, Sunrise, Sunset, Blackboard, Whiteboard, Mother – in – law, Output, Check – out, Check-in, Haircut, Hotspot, Smartphone, Hardware, Long lasting, Underline, Underground, Shutdown, Input, Overthrow. 

Forming Compound Nouns with all Parts of Speech  

Compound Nouns can be formed by combining different parts of speech. Here we form compound Nouns with the help of all parts of speech. 

Noun + Noun 

Noun	Noun	Compound Noun
Bus	Stop	Bus stop
Foot	Ball	Football
Air	Port	Airport
Basket	Ball	Basketball
Railway	Station	Railway station

Noun + Verb 

Noun	Verb	Compound Noun
Sun	Rise	Sunrise
Sun	Set	Sunset
Foot	Print	Footprint
Snow	Fall	Snowfall
Rain	Fall	Rainfall

Noun + Preposition

Noun	Preposition	Compound Noun
Mother	in – law	Mother – in – law
Son	in – law	Son – in – law
Brother	in – law	Brother – in – law

Preposition + Verb 

Preposition	Verb	Compound Noun
In	Put	Input
Out	Put	Output
In	Take	Intake
Over	Throw	Overthrow

Verb + Preposition

Verb	Preposition	Compound Noun
Check	In	Check-in
Check	Out	Check – out
Break	Down	Breakdown
Build	Up	Build up
Shut	Down	Shutdown

Preposition + Noun 

Preposition	Noun	Compound Noun
Under	Line	Underline
Under	Ground	Underground
Off	Shore	Offshore
Up	Stairs	Upstairs
Over	Night	Overnight

Adjective + Noun 

Adjective	Noun	Compound Noun
Black	Board	Blackboard
White	Board	Whiteboard
Hard	Ware	Hardware
Hot	Spot	Hotspot
Soft	Ware	Software

Adjective + Verb 

Adjective	Verb	Compound Noun
Long	Lasting	Long-lasting
Ever	Lasting	Everlasting
High	Light	Highlight
Long	Awaited	Long awaited

List of Compound Nouns

Washing machine, Greenhouse, Dining – table, Bus stop, Swimming pool, Sunrise, Sunset, Blackboard, Whiteboard, Mother – in – law, Output, Check – out , Check – in , Haircut , Hotspot, Smartphone , Hardware, Long lasting, Underline, Underground, Shutdown, Input, Overthrow. 

Rules for Compound Noun

1. When the compound noun is singular or a single word, make it plural by adding s to the end.

Examples : 

Underline – underlines 

Hotspot – hotspots

2. When the compound noun is hyphenated or separated, make it plural by adding s to the word that is plural. 

Example : 

Mother-in-law = Two mothers-in-law 

Difference between Compound Nouns and Collective Noun

A collective noun is a single word which refers to a group or a team and that can be singular or plural. 

Examples : 

flock = A group of birds 

Troop = A group of army 

Team = A group of player 

A compound noun is made up of more than one word. 

Examples : 

Blackboard = black + board 

Ice cream = Ice + cream 

Overnight = over + night 

Practice Questions/Quiz 

Read the sentences carefully and identify the compound nouns given below.

1. Write something on the blackboard.

2. My teacher had a heart attack.

3. They swim in the swimming pool. 

4. Rahul’s father-in-law went to America last month. 

5. My friend booked a dining – table for his colleagues in a restaurant. 

6. In 2022, Argentina won the FIFA football match. 

7. Do not drive without a driving licence.

8. Please underline the word. 

9. Due to inflation, many  Chinese companies shut down their company. 

10. She is my mother-in-law. 

Answer 

1. blackboard

2. heart attack

3. swimming pool

4. father – in – law

5. dining – table

6. football

7. driving licence.

8. underline

9. shutdown

10. mother-in-law. 

FAQ’s on Compound Noun

Que1. What is a Compound Nouns? 

Ans. A compound Noun is a noun that is made with two or more words together.

Compound Nouns are made by joining more than one word together. 

Que2. What are 10 examples of Compound Nouns? 

Ans. 1. blackboard

2. heart attack

3. swimming pool

4. father – in – law

5. dining – table

6. football

7. driving licence.

8. underline

9. shutdown

10. mother-in-law.

Que3. What are 3 Compound Nouns? 

Ans. Blackboard, Hotspot, Input.
 

Nouns can be combined with many different words to form compound nouns, the core noun is modified as though with an adjective. Compound nouns are treated like a single unit, so the entire group of words take the position of a regular noun, and any modifiers come before or after the whole compound noun.

• I danced with the Prime Minister’s daughter.
• The Prime Minister’s daughter is not a good dancer.

However, more consideration must be given to how compound nouns are formed, and the word order within these structures.

Single word or simple compound nouns

Compound nouns formed with adjectives at the end are often combined into a simple noun, for example words using suffixes such as ‘ful’ (a form of ‘full’). Similarly this happens when combining with a noun that represent quantities, such as ‘load’.

• bagful (a quantity that fills a bag)
• truckload (a quantity that fills a truck)

This also happens with nouns that are combined with a verb, often to describe an activity or event or an object used for a particular activity:

• haircut
• sunset
• skateboard

And with prepositions and prepositional phrases, which usually describe a noun with an inherent relationship:

• sister-in-law
• downtown

With all these examples, the word order is very simple as they are usually compound nouns in the form of a single word, or are collocations that should not be separated.

Compound nouns with two or more words

Compound nouns are also formed with nouns, adjectives, prepositions and verbs placed before a noun. Again, these are treated as one idea, taking the place in the sentence of a noun, but it is important to pay attention to the order of words within a compound noun.

The first word, whether a noun, adjective, verb or preposition, normally describes the final noun.

• cat food (a kind of food, for cats)
• car door (a type of door, belonging to a car)
• swimming pool (a type of pool, for swimming)
• full moon (a type of moon, when it is full)

Compound nouns must follow this word order or it will not make sense – a door car, for example, would mean a car made of doors. In some cases, the words can be reversed for a logical, but different, meaning:

• horse race (a type of race, with horses)
• race horse (a type of horse, for races)

As the second word in these compound nouns represents the main idea, it can be useful to think of the preceding word as an object; additional, describing information.

• football shirt – a shirt worn for football
• finance book – a book used for finances
• London taxi – a taxi from London
• blackboard – a board that is black

With combinations of nouns, because the first noun describes a purpose, and not quantities, it is always in singular form.

• wedding ring / wedding rings

Any articles come before both the entire compound noun, but are based on the final noun, not any other nouns in the compound. For example, sun does not require the here:

• Do you have some sun cream? (some cream)
• Pass me the sun cream. (the specific cream)

Note that not all nouns can form compound by simply putting one word in front of another. Sometimes nouns must be linked with prepositions:

• a sense of longing (not a longing sense)

Compound nouns with more than two nouns

Sometimes compound nouns of more than one word are used to describe additional nouns, which can form more complex compound nouns, similar to placing multiple adjectives in front of a noun. Additional information describes the noun (or compound noun) it comes directly before. Note that the main noun will be the final word in a series, so adding words at the end of these structures will change the noun:

• sea creature analysis (a piece of analysis)
• sea creature analysis centre (a location)
• sea creature analysis centre report (a piece of writing)

If the final noun stays in the same position, additional words will change the description of the same noun:

• creature analysis
• sea creature analysis
• sea creature egg analysis
• Mediterranean Sea creature egg analysis

In this example, these are all types of analysis.

This is a brief introduction to compound nouns, mainly focusing on the idea of the word order. Individual nouns and structures can become more complex and in some cases it is necessary to use prepositional phrases and complements to describe ideas, instead of merely placing one word in front of another. This is explored more fully in my follow up article, all about noun complements.

Last night, I took my roommate to a drive-in to see the latest blockbuster. It was a fun night, but it was also an example of an event that can be described with nouns. Not just any nouns, though. We use many different types of nouns to refer to people we love, places we take them, and things we enjoy together, but my story uses a couple examples of one particular type of noun: the compound noun.

What is a compound noun?

In grammar, a compound refers to a word that is made up of two or more existing parts or elements. Adjectives, verbs, prepositions, and nouns can all be described as compounds.

As compounds, they are made of two or more existing words combined into one, such as housetop (noun), many-sided (adjective), playact (verb), or upon (preposition).

A compound noun, in simplified terms, is a noun made up of two or more existing words. They are extremely common in English. The word snowstorm is an example of a simple type of compound noun formed from the words snow and storm. Compound nouns aren’t just formed from nouns but other types of words as well, such as verbs, adjectives, and prepositions. You can see this in words like runoff, takedown, and shortcake.

One main thing to keep in mind about compound nouns is that they have a meaning that is distinct from their component parts. For example, a blackboard is an object that a teacher writes on with chalk while a “black board” is any black piece of wood.

How many nouns does it take to be a noun expert? Make sure you count countable nouns in! Learn more about countable nouns here.

Compound noun examples

In English, there are three main ways that we form compound nouns. As is often the case in English, there is no single rule that states which of these methods is correct when it comes to forming specific compound nouns. You will either need to memorize compound nouns as you come across them or use our fantastic dictionary to see which form (or forms) should be used.

Compound nouns as a single word

This type of compound noun is formed by combining two words (from different parts of speech) together into a single word. Here are examples of compound nouns formed from pairs of different types of words:

• Noun + noun: lunchtime, boyfriend, milkman, firefighter, hatrack, heartache
• Verb + noun: jailbreak, haircut, runtime, turntable, sweatshirt, buzzkill
• Adjective + noun: smartphone, bluebird, redhead, greenhouse
• Preposition + noun: downtown, bystander, underworld, overtime
• Verb + preposition: breakdown, offshoot, downturn, input, uproar

Compound nouns as separate words

This type of compound noun is formed by using two separate words together that are acting together, grammatically, as a single unit. This type of compound noun is different from a noun phrase because one word isn’t acting as a modifier of another. You need to be careful with this type of compound noun as they may look identical to an instance of two separate words that aren’t being used as a compound noun. For example, the compound noun hot dog refers to a food while the separate words “hot dog” refers to a hairy animal that is very warm (and a good boy).

• Noun + noun:  house party, grandfather clock, sweater vest, Christmas tree
• Verb + noun: flash flood, grab bag, jump cut, slam dunk, shock jock
• Adjective + noun: quick fix, easy money, slow burn, double agent, close call

Compound nouns with hyphens

This type of compound noun is often confused with the other two types. Using hyphens to form compound nouns is particularly common in newer or rarely used words. If a compound noun is formed from more than two words, it will almost always use hyphens.

• know-it-all, mother-in-law, show-off, court-martial, jack-in-the-box, jack-of-all-trades, Johnny-come-lately, city-state, hocus-pocus, merry-go-round

Plural forms of compound nouns

Until now, we have only looked at singular nouns. However, there are different rules about how to make compound nouns into plural nouns depending on which of the three types you are dealing with.

Plural of single-word compound nouns

Of the three, this type of compound noun is the most likely to follow the rules of plural nouns. You can take a look at our article on plural nouns if you need a refresher, but the usual method is to add -s or -es to the end of the compound noun. For example, chalkboard becomes chalkboards and eyelash becomes eyelashes.

Plural of multiple-word compound nouns

This type of compound noun gets more complicated. Sometimes, these words stick to the rules, and all you need to do is make the last word plural as in wedding planners or soft drinks. However, things can get more complicated. For example, the plural of attorney general is attorneys general. The reason is that the word attorney is acting as the main word and general is specifying what job the attorney has. In this case, it makes more sense to turn attorney into a plural when referring to more than one attorney general. Keep this in mind as we look at our last type of compound noun.

Plural of compound nouns with hyphens

Once again, things get complicated. Sometimes, hyphenated compound nouns follow the rules and get an -s or -es added onto the last word as in jack-in-the-boxes or fixer-uppers. Other times, though, hyphenated compound nouns don’t follow the pattern as in sisters-in-law or runners-up. As was the case in multiple-word compound nouns, these words turn the main word rather than the final word into a plural.

List of compound nouns

Let’s look at more examples of compound nouns. As you read each of these nouns, think about what words were used to form them and how the meanings of these nouns differ from the words used to make them.

• artwork, basketball, card shark, double dip, earmark, fast track, gold rush, half-and-half, icebreaker, junk mail, kangaroo court, ladybug, mother-of-pearl, night-light, odd-job, post office, queen bee, riverbank, small fry, think tank, upperclassmen, victory lap, whiz kid, yardstick, zookeeper

The difference between compound & collective nouns

Up until now, we have looked at many different examples of compound nouns. Compound nouns are formed by combining multiple words together to make a single noun. Another type of noun also brings several things together to form a single noun. A collective noun is a noun that collectively refers to multiple people or objects as a single entity. The words army, gang, pile, stack, group, and bunch are all examples of collective nouns. Unlike compound nouns, collective nouns don’t need to be formed from multiple words.

For the most part, both compound nouns and collective nouns follow the rules that all other nouns follow. Both can be singular nouns or plural nouns. Both can be concrete nouns or abstract nouns. Both can be possessive nouns.

Try another noun on for size, and see what you know about proper nouns.

Although rare, it is possible for a noun to be both a compound noun and a collective noun. For example, the word homeroom is a compound noun formed from the words home and room. At the same time, homeroom can be used as a collective noun to refer to a group of students.

Take a look at some example sentences. Read each sentence and see if you can understand what makes each given noun a compound noun, a collective noun, or both.

1. I can’t handle the heartbreak of losing a pet.
2. Our team won the championship.
3. Two of my friends are members of the glee club.
4. The goblin kingdom crumbled due to a civil war.
5. The cruel billionaire looked down on the lower class.

Perfect grammar has never been easier

We’ve got a noun for you: genius! And that’s what you’ll be when you check your writing on Thesaurus.com’s Grammar Coach™. This writing tool uses machine learning technology uniquely designed to catch grammar and spelling errors. Its Synonym Swap will find the best nouns, adjectives, and more to help say what you really mean, guiding you toward clearer, stronger, writing.

Answer: 1. Compound 2. Collective 3. Both compound and collective noun 4. Compound 5. Both compound and collective noun