Compound Words

Compound Words

There are three forms of compound words:

the closed form, in which the words are melded together, such as firefly, secondhand, softball, childlike, crosstown, redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook;

the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced;

and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half sister, attorney general.

One of the most difficult decisions to make about possessives and plurals of compound words occurs when you can’t decide whether the first noun in a compound structure is acting as a noun that ought to be showing possession or as what is called an attributive noun, essentially an adjective. In other words, do we write that I am going to a writers conference or to a writers’ conference? The Chicago Style Manual suggests that if singular nouns can act as attributive nouns — city government, tax relief — then plural nouns should be able to act as attributive nouns: consumers group, teachers union. This principle is not universally endorsed, however, and writers must remember to be consistent within a document.

FURNTE : http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/compounds.htm

Here are some examples of compound noun types and their written forms.

Compound nouns:

• noun + noun – (these are the most common) – housewife,  suitcase, seafood. database
• noun + er (noun or verb) – housekeeper, backwater, screwdriver, eye-opener
• noun + verb-ing – skydiving, window shopping, film-making, trainspotting (train spotting)
• verb+particle – handout, giveaway, checkout, lookout
• particle-verb – income, output, bypass, outsource
• adj + noun – greenhouse, blackbird, whiteboard, real estate
• verb + noun – swimsuit, driving licence, rocking chair, washing machine
• three word compounds  – washing-up-liquid, sister-in-law, birds-of-prey

 Making compound nouns plural:

Most compound nouns follow the normal convention that would be used if the final part of the compound were pluralised:

• suitcases, handouts, swimsuits
• housewives, bypasses

Where compounds end in the prepositions by or on the first word in made plural:

• passer-by  passers-by
• hanger-on  hangers-on

Where compounds have three parts the first word is made plural (if this word is the defining word):

• sisters-in-law   but   washing-up-liquids

Quiz: Plurals- Compound Nouns

Plural forms of compound nouns

In general we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the “base word” (the most “significant” word). Look at these examples:

singular	plural
a tennis shoe	three tennis shoes
one assistant headmaster	five assistant headmasters
the sergeant major	some sergeants major
a mother-in-law	two mothers-in-law
an assistant secretary of state	three assistant secretaries of state
my toothbrush	our toothbrushes
a woman-doctor	four women-doctors
a doctor of philosophy	two doctors of philosophy
a passerby, a passer-by	two passersby, two passers-by

Compound noun quiz

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Compound Words

Compound Words

There are three forms of compound words:

the closed form, in which the words are melded together, such as firefly, secondhand, softball, childlike, crosstown, redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook;

the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced;

and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half sister, attorney general.

One of the most difficult decisions to make about possessives and plurals of compound words occurs when you can’t decide whether the first noun in a compound structure is acting as a noun that ought to be showing possession or as what is called an attributive noun, essentially an adjective. In other words, do we write that I am going to a writers conference or to a writers’ conference? The Chicago Style Manual suggests that if singular nouns can act as attributive nouns — city government, tax relief — then plural nouns should be able to act as attributive nouns: consumers group, teachers union. This principle is not universally endorsed, however, and writers must remember to be consistent within a document.

FURNTE : http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/compounds.htm

Here are some examples of compound noun types and their written forms.

Compound nouns:

• noun + noun – (these are the most common) – housewife,  suitcase, seafood. database
• noun + er (noun or verb) – housekeeper, backwater, screwdriver, eye-opener
• noun + verb-ing – skydiving, window shopping, film-making, trainspotting (train spotting)
• verb+particle – handout, giveaway, checkout, lookout
• particle-verb – income, output, bypass, outsource
• adj + noun – greenhouse, blackbird, whiteboard, real estate
• verb + noun – swimsuit, driving licence, rocking chair, washing machine
• three word compounds  – washing-up-liquid, sister-in-law, birds-of-prey

 Making compound nouns plural:

Most compound nouns follow the normal convention that would be used if the final part of the compound were pluralised:

• suitcases, handouts, swimsuits
• housewives, bypasses

Where compounds end in the prepositions by or on the first word in made plural:

• passer-by  passers-by
• hanger-on  hangers-on

Where compounds have three parts the first word is made plural (if this word is the defining word):

• sisters-in-law   but   washing-up-liquids

Quiz: Plurals- Compound Nouns

Plural forms of compound nouns

In general we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the “base word” (the most “significant” word). Look at these examples:

singular	plural
a tennis shoe	three tennis shoes
one assistant headmaster	five assistant headmasters
the sergeant major	some sergeants major
a mother-in-law	two mothers-in-law
an assistant secretary of state	three assistant secretaries of state
my toothbrush	our toothbrushes
a woman-doctor	four women-doctors
a doctor of philosophy	two doctors of philosophy
a passerby, a passer-by	two passersby, two passers-by

Compound noun quiz