Compound nouns
wildlife, shopping list, hand cream, toothbrush, apple pie, credit card, haircut, passer-by, crossword, hairdresser
They are compound nouns.
A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or more words. Most compound nouns in English are formed by nouns modified by other nouns or adjectives.
For example:
The words tooth and brush are each nouns in their own right, but if you join them together they form a new word - toothbrush.
The word black is an adjective and bird is a noun, but if you join them together they form a new word - blackbird.
In both these examples the first word modifies or describes the second word, telling us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is. And the second part identifies the object or person in question.
As you can see, some are written as separate words, others are written together, and others are joined by a hyphen. However, all of them are formed by two words working as a single noun. A good dictionary will tell you how you should write each compound noun.
Another characteristic of this type of nouns is that they can be formed by different combinations of words, for example:
| COMPOUND WORD | EXAMPLES |
| noun + noun |
toothpaste, bedroom, motorcycle |
| adjective + noun | greenhouse, software, wildlife |
| verb + noun | shopping list, swimming pool, driving licence |
| noun + preposition | passer-by, hanger on |
| noun + verb | rainfall, train-spotting, haircut |
| preposition + noun | underground, onlooker |
| adjective + verb |
dry-cleaning, whitewash |
| preposition + verb |
input, output, downfall |
| verb + preposition | take-off, drawback, workout |
Compound words often have a meaning that is different from the two separate words:
a greenhouse is a place where plants are grown
a green house is a house painted green
Practice
| WATER | UP |
SKY |
SWEET |
OVER |
NET |
MEETING |
LIGHT |
COMMON |
GOAL |
DEAD |
BLUE |
| KEEPER |
|
| HEART | |
| HOUSE | |
| ROOM | |
| FALL | |
| WORK | |
| STAIRS | |
| BIRD | |
| SCRAPER | |
| COAT |
|
| WEIGHT | |
| SENSE |
Example:
| gold + | sense - fish - out |
| compound word: | GOLDFISH |
| definition: | a small reddish-golden carp popular in ponds and aquaria |
| AFTER | |
room |
light |
thought |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| CLOCK | |
stairs |
work |
small |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| DOWN | |
come |
up |
stairs |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| OUT | |
doors |
windows |
floors |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| GIVE | |
away |
work |
fall |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| HIGH | |
start |
light | month |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| RAIL | |
bird |
house |
way |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| BLACK | |
blue |
berry |
woman |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| POST | |
mark |
letter |
away |
Compound word: | Definition: |
| IN | |
way |
some |
come |
Compound word: | Definition: |