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 paste are each nouns in their own right, but if you join them together they form
a new word - toothpaste.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUND NOUNS

 Closed Form: These compound nouns simply push two words together to form a
single word, with no additional punctuation or spaces.

EX . softball, redhead, makeup and keyboard

 Open Form: These are compound nouns that function as one unique word, but are
still written as two or more separate words, with a space between each component.

EX . post office, middle class, and attorney general

 Hyphenated Form: These compound nouns connect two or more words with one or
more hyphens between them.

EX. six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law

 However, these hyphenated compound nouns become open compounds when

they are placed after the word they describe:

 The farm has forty acres.

 The worker is full time.

 The housing is all on campus for freshmen.