What are compound nouns?
COMPOUND NOUNS
A. Some nouns consist of more than one word.
These are compound nouns. Compound nouns can be formed in different ways.
The most common way is to put two nouns together (noun + noun); other common
types are adjective + noun and verb + noun.
1. NOUN + NOUN
e.g: car park, Iceland, shopkeeper, website
2. ADJECTIVE + NOUN
e.g: blackberry, grandstand, greenhouse, small talk
3. VERB + NOUN
e.g: breakwater, runway
B. Writing compound nouns
Many compound nouns are written as one word, but some are written with hyphens or spaces. In modern English, hyphens are less common than they were in the past. A good learner’s dictionary will tell you how each compound is usually written.
Examples of one word: bathroom, sheepdog, windscreen
Examples of hyphens: check-in, fire-fighter, son-in-law
Examples of spaces: bottle opener, New Year’s Day, Prime Minister
C. Plurals of compound nouns
We form the plural of most compounds by adding a plural ending to the last part of the compound:
e.g: We saw some large greenhouses with vegetables growing in them.
e.g: They’re building two new car parks in town.