Compound Nouns in English
How 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