Section outline

  • Compound Nouns are nouns made up of two or more different words.

    The new word formed has a different meaning from the individual words that form it.

    Words from different parts of speech are combined together to work as a compound noun.

    Forming Compound Nouns:

    Combination Examples
    Noun + Noun Football, backbone, butterfly
    Noun + Verb Sunrise, haircut, healthcare
    Verb + Noun Runway, playground
    Noun + Adjective  Snow White, town square
    Adjective + Noun High school, goldfish
    Adjective + Verb Dry-cleaning, long lasting
    Adjective + Adjective  Red-orange, blue-green
    Noun + Preposition  Hilltop, printout
    Preposition + Verb Outlook, intake
    Verb + Preposition  Takeaway, makeup, check-out
    Preposition + Noun Underworld, online, upstairs