NOMINAL COMPOUND / COMPOUND NOUN
A compound noun is a noun that is formed by a combination of more than one
part of speech.
Compound nouns are of three main types:
1. Open or spaced compound nouns
2. Hyphenated compound nouns and
3. Closed or solid compound nouns
a compound noun is defined as ‘a noun that is made up of two or more different words,
for example, “cake shop”, “French fries”, “high-flyer”, or “schoolteacher”.
[A NOMINAL COMPOUND refers to the fusion of multiple words that
collectively function as a single noun entity.]
1. Open spaced compound nouns- there is a space between the two words.
For eg – bus stop, bus fare, car park etc
2. Hyphenated compound nouns- in which two words are separated with the use of a
hyphen.
For eg- mother-in-law, passer-by, etc
3. Closed or solid compound nouns- there is no hyphen or space separating them, instead
they act as a single word.
For eg- basketball, football, airport etc
Now how to form compound noun? Or how to identify them ?
There are numerous ways to make a compound noun. For eg-
1. Noun +Noun
2. Noun + verb
3. Noun + Gerund
4. Noun + preposition+ noun
5. Gerund+ noun
6. Preposition+ verb
7. Verb+ preposition
8. Preposition+ noun
9. Adjective+ noun
10. Adjective+ verb
11. Rhyming words
12. Titles/Places/Nationalities
Now let’s understand each of them through examples :
1. Noun+ noun
Noun Noun Compound Noun
bus stop bus stop
fire fly firefly
basket ball basketball
head mistress headmistress
railway junction railway junction
foot ball football
2. Noun + verb
Noun Verb Compound Noun
hair cut haircut
rain fall rainfall
sun set sunset
sun rise sunrise
snow fall snowfall
night fall nightfall
3. Noun+ Gerund
Noun Gerund Compound Noun
Hand writing handwriting
Time consuming time consuming
Copy editing copy-editing
Book keeping bookkeeping
Cat walking cat walking
4. Gerund+ Noun
Gerund Noun Compound Noun
visiting card visiting card
driving license driving license
cooking gas cooking gas
waiting room waiting room
5. Noun +Preposition +noun
Noun Preposition/Prepositional Compound Noun
Phrase
mother in-law mother-in-law
brother in-law brother-in-law
father in-law father-in-law
6. Preposition+ verb
Preposition Verb Compound Noun
over throw overthrow
under cut undercut
in take intake
out burst outburst
7. Verb+ preposition
Verb Preposition Compound Noun
check in check-in
check out check-out
look out lookout
break down breakdown
break up breakup
make up makeup
8. Preposition+ noun
Preposition Noun Compound Noun
under ground underground
off shore offshore
back ground background
up stairs upstairs
under line underline
9. Adjective+ noun
Adjective Noun Compound Noun
black board blackboard
green room greenroom
blue berry blueberry
hot spot hotspot
hard ware hardware
10. Adjective+ verb
Adjective Verb Compound Noun
dry cleaning drycleaning
long lasting long lasting
high light highlight
under go undergo
11. Rhyming word
Word 1 Word 2 Compound Word
no no no-no
chit chat chit-chat
pitter patter pitter-patter
dilly dally dilly-dally
walkie talkie walkie-talkie
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