Compound Nouns in English

Compound Nouns in EnglishHow nouns merge into compounds. A list of frequent and irregular compounds.

Compound nouns are nouns made of several words or at least roots. Most compound nouns in English are formed by nouns determined by other nouns or adjectives. Compound nouns act as single units.

Compounding

Compounds are pluralized either wholly or in separate/hyphenated nouns.

  • Noun + Noun

ticket inspector, bus stop, firefly, football

  • (-Ing) Verb / Adjective + Noun

swimming pool, greenhouse, monthly ticket, breakfast, washing machine

  • Noun + Prepositional Phrase

sisters-in-law

  • Noun + Adverb

runners-up, passers-by

  • Verb + Adverb

breakthrough

  • Noun + Adjective

truckful, handful, mouthful

  • Adjective + Noun

full moon, blackboard, software

  • Preposition + Noun

underground, underworld

  • Noun + Preposition

hanger-on

  • Noun + Verb

haircut, sunrise, train-spotting

  • Adjective + Verb

dry-cleaning

  • Preposition + Verb

output

  • Verb + Preposition

check-out

Compound Spelling

  • Closed/solid Compounds

toothpaste, bedroom

  • Hyphenated Compounds

check-in, 6-pack

  • Open/spaced Compounds

full moon, tennis shoe

Compound Pronunciation

Compound nouns tend to have more stress on 1st words. For example, in the compound golf ball the 1st word is stressed more, though both words are nouns which are always stressed. Golf ball is a single compound noun with 1 main stress.

Stress is important in compound meanings. It helps tell greenhouse (a glass building for growing plants inside) from green house (a house painted green).

Compound Usage

Different English dialects and even different writers may use the open, hyphenated or closed form for 1 compound. Frequent open compounds now tend for the hyphenated/closed spelling.

It is partly a matter of style which should be consistent.

container ship, container-ship, containership

Irregular Compounds

Many author compounds have no clear root. It’s important to understand and recognize compound nouns. Good dictionaries tell how to write each compound.

higher-ups, also-rans, go-betweens, has-beens, good-for-nothings, grown-ups

Frequent Compound Words

A

afterthought, airplane, another, anybody, anyhow, anyone, anything, anywhere

B

backbone, backspace, backwoods, become, bedroom, beeswax, birthday, birthright, blackberry, blackbird, blackboard, blackmail, bluebell, bodyguard, bookkeeper, brainstorm, brushwood

C

cardboard, carefree, caretaker, carpet, chairman, clockwork, commonsense, copyright, cupboard

D

daylight, dead weight, downfall, downstairs

E

earring, earthwork, evergreen, everybody, everyday, everyone, everything, everywhere, eyeball

F

fatherland, fingerprint, firearm, fire-engine, firefly, fireman, fireplace, firework, first-rate, football, footlights, footman, footnote, footprint, footstep

G

gasworks, goalkeeper, goldfish, good-looking, good-morning, goodnight, gunboat, gun-carriage, gunmetal, gunpowder

H

haircut, handbook, handwriting, headdress, headland, headphones, headstone, headway, hereafter, herewith, herself, highlands, highway, himself, horseback, horseplay, horsepower, hourglass, houseboat, housekeeper, however

I

 inasmuch, income, indoors, inland, inlet, input, inside, instep, into, itself

J

joystick,

K

keyboard

L

landmark, landslip, lawsuit, lighthouse, lipstick, loan shark, looking-glass, loophole

M

manhandle, manhole, meeting room, moonlight, myself

N

network, newspaper, nobody, nothing, nowhere

O

offspring, oncoming, oneself, online, onlooker, onto, ourselves, outburst, outcome, outcry, outdoor, outgoing, outhouse, outlaw, outlet, outline, outlook, output, outside, outskirts, outstretched, overacting, overall overbalancing, overbearing, overcoat, overcome, overdo, overdressed, overfull, overhanging, overhead, overland, overleaf, overload, overlook, overseas, overseer, overshoe, overstatement, overtake, overtaxed, overtime, overturned, overuse, overvalued, overweight, overworking

P

pincushion, plaything , policeman, policewoman, postman, postwoman, postmark, postmaster, post office

R

railway, receivership, runway, runaway

S

scarecrow, seaman, secondhand, shorthand, shutdown, sideboard, sidewalk, skyscraper, somebody, someday, somehow, someone, something, sometime, somewhat, somewhere, starlight, startup, steamship, suchlike, sunburn, sunlight, sunshade, sweetheart

T

themselves, timesheet, today, tonight, toothpaste, tradesman

U

underclothing, undercooked, undergo, undergrowth, undermined, undersigned, undersized, understatement, undertake, undertaker, undervalued, undo, update, upkeep, uplift, upon, upright, upstairs, uptake, uptight

V

viewpoint .

W

wallpaper, waterfall, weekend, well-being, well-off, whatever, whenever, whereas, whereby, wherever, whichever, whitewash, whoever, windpipe, within, without, woodwork, workhouse , workman, workmanship, workout

X

x-ray

Y

yearbook, yourself

Z

zookeeper