Compound Words in English: Vocabulary Building

What are "Compound Words"?- A compound word consists of two or more base words. Meaning of Compound word is often different from the separate base words. - Compound Words and Parts of Speech- Compound words are mostly nouns, adjectives, and verbs. - Kinds of Compound Words - Compound words are of three types: (A). Closed Compound Words: Words are joined together. There is no space or hyphen between the words. Examples: firefly / softball / redhead / keyboard / makeup / notebook - (B). Hyphenated Compound Words: Words are joined together by a hyphen. Examples: daughter-in-law / over-the-counter / six-year-old - (C). Open Compound Words: Words are not joined together. Words are open or separate. In other words, there is a space between the words. Examples: post office / real estate / full moon / half sister - Some general rules regarding use of hyphens: - Compound Adjectives are often hyphenated. If compound adjective precedes a noun, they are hyphenated. Examples: low-paying job low- paying is a compound adjective; job is a noun] good-looking celebrity good-looking is a compound adjective; celebrity is a noun] - Adverbs that end in -ly and compounded with another modifier are generally not hyphenated: Examples: deeply held beliefs, genetically modified foods, highly placed sources, quietly organized meeting - ALSO NOTE: 1. Some compound words may have more than one form but these forms may belong to different parts of speech. Examples: bread and butter open form] noun]; bread-and-butter closed form] adjective] - charge sheet open form] noun]; chargesheet closed form] verb]- fast track open form] noun]; fast-track hyphenated form] adjective, verb] - first degree open form] noun]; first-degree hyphenated form] adjective] - full time open form] noun]; full-time hyphenated form] adjective, adverb] - gift wrap open form] noun]; gift-wrap hyphenated form] verb] - hard core open form] noun]; hard-core hyphenated form] adjective] - hard line open form] noun]; hard-line hyphenated form] adjective] - road test open form] noun]; road-test hyphenated form] verb] - second hand open form] noun]; second-home hyphenated form] adjective] -- 2. Some compound words which are hyphenated in American English are not hyphenated in British English. Example: cash-back American English]; cashback British English] -- 3. Compound words are mainly formed in the following ways: (a). adjective + adjective example: bittersweet], (b). adjective + noun example: blackboard], (c). adjective + verb example: broadcast], (d). adjective + past participle example: cold-blooded], (e). adjective + present participle example: free-standing], (f). adverb (or preposition) + adjective example: ingrown], (g). adverb (or preposition) + noun example: afterlife], (h). adverb (or preposition) + verb example: cutback], (i). adverb + past participle example: brightly lit], (j). adverb + present participle example: long-lasting], (k). noun + adjective example: blood red], (l). noun + adverb (or preposition) example: hanger-on], (m). noun + noun example: airman], (n). noun + verb example: air-condition], (o). noun + past participle example: sun-dried], (p). verb + adverb (or preposition) example: breakdown], (q). verb + noun example: bathroom], (r). gerund + noun example: bleaching powder], (s). noun + gerund example: air-conditioning] -- Detailed list of Compound words in Alphabetical Order. All compound words have been grouped according to the parts of speech they belong to.

Manik Joshi was born on Jan 26, 1979 at Ranikhet and is permanent resident of Haldwani, Kumaon zone of India. He is an Internet Marketer by profession. He is interested in domaining (business of buying and selling domain names), web designing (creating websites), and various online jobs (including ’self book publishing’). He is science graduate with ZBC (zoology, botany, and chemistry) subjects. He is also an MBA (with specialization in marketing). He has done three diploma courses in computer too. ManikJoshi.com is the personal website of the author.