Economic English & English Communication

Lecturer: Anisa Suciaty Dewi, M.Pd.

VOCABULARY FOCUS: Compound nouns and compound adjectives

 A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two words.

This is very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They normally
have two parts. The first part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its
purpose is. The second part identifies the object or person in question. Compound nouns
often have a meaning that is different, or more specific, than the two separate words.

 A compound adjective is an adjective that has two or more words. The words in a
compound adjective are usually grouped together using hyphens to show it is a single
adjective.

Look at this table showing us the examples of compound nouns and compound adjectives.

Compound nouns Compound adjectives

video conference nonstop
headset two-hour
stock market part-time
deadline well-known
filing cabinet old-fashioned

A compound noun can be:

 one word: password, website

 two words: business school, labor union, market sector
 a hyphenated word: fund-raiser, baby-sitter

Sample sentences that contain compound nouns and compound adjectives:

Compound nouns

1. I need my passport for my upcoming business trip.

2. The accounting firm has performance reviews in May and December.
3. Workplace safety is a big issue for us.

Compound adjectives

1. I have a two-year contract with my cell phone provider.

2. He handed me a twenty-page report.
3. Our boss wants to make last-minute changes to a publication.

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Practice

A. Compound nouns or compound adjectives? Insert them into the table.

Brand-new businessman time zone down-to-earth fifteen-year-old

First-class job seeker movie star health care phone number second-hand

Smartphone open-minded air-tight traffic jam fat-free travel agent website

No Compound Nouns Compound Adjectives

.
Website Brand-new
Smartphone fifteen-year-old
health care First-class
businessman second-hand
movie star fat-free
time zone air-tight
job seeker down-to-earth

B. Fill in the blanks with correct compound adjectives on the right.

1. We should start using _______E______ generators. A. brightly-lit
2. This is a _____A______ room. B. two-hour
3. I bought some _____F_______ strawberries. C. up-to-date
4. He came late because there was a ____B_____ delay. D. low-income
5. They work with ____C_____ technology. E. wind-powered
6. Indonesia has many _____G____ food brands. F. mouth-watering
7. Our community raises funds for ____D____ families. G. well-known

C. Underline / mention the compound nouns in the sentences.

1. The lecturer asked for a notebook to check the homework.
2. They met in an AutoCAD workshop.
3. That giant building is such a true landmark for the city.
4. Can you find a staircase in the backyard of the office?
5. I need extra time to set a new password.
6. Dominic got sunburn and had a headache after arriving from the seashore.
7. My boss likes to hang his raincoat near the timetable.
8. Irene became a keynote speaker in the seminar last week.

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