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Phrasal verbs have their own special rules, but in general only one of the words in the group is conjugated while the others remain untouched. Open compound words are mostly nouns, and they’re used the same as regular nouns. If you want to make an open compound word plural, you usually pluralize only the final word in the group, not all the words. The different categories of compound words pertain only to the words’ spellings—they don’t affect how the words are used or pronounced. Still, it’s important to understand their differences because you need to use the correct spelling when you’re writing. Let’s look at each group on its own and review a special compound words list for each.
So much fluidity, in fact, that the dictionary cannot always provide a cut-and-dried answer, as much as it tries. Now, that you have a grasp of compound words, you might want to dive into some compound sentence examples. Now let's try one final example sentence using an open compound word.
What is another word for home run?
In a sentence, this would look like, “My grandmother is coming over.” These are the most common types of compound words. When hyphenated compound words are nouns, it’s important that you pluralize the right part. Unlike with open compound words, you don’t always pluralize the final word in the group. For example, with the hyphenated compound word mother-in-law, you pluralize mother instead of law. Last are hyphenated compound words, which have hyphens between the words.
For example, the page in web page is not the same as the page in a book, nor does it involve webs. But unlike a regular adjective, a compound is made of two words joined with a hyphen. For example, when a compound that is usually left open is used to modify another noun, that compound will usually take a hyphen. So you can speak of a person who loves science fiction going to a science-fiction convention.
Hyphenated Compound Words
Same with a video-game collector, a food-truck business, a pet-store employee, or even adjectives made from phrases, like made-for-TV movie or over-the-counter medication. Open compound words are compound words written as two separate words but said together as one word with its own meaning. In other terms, a compound word is made up of two or more words that are written separately, meaning they have a space between them. Compound words are often confused with blended words, also known as portmanteaus, but the two are very different. In compound words, each individual word remains unchanged.
For example, if you want to talk about more than one living room, you say living rooms, not livings rooms. While compound words are a part of everyday communication, figuring out whether to use spaces, hyphens, or neither can get confusing. Below, we discuss the rules for compound words in grammar, including the three different types of compound words, and give examples. (adjective + verb + adverb) Often, many words start as open compound words, and eventually turn into closed compound words (e.g., notebook). There are a few standards that can be remembered to know whether a compound word should be opened, closed, or hyphenated.
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As with most English language rules, the rules for compound nouns and compound adjectives are not set in stone. Knowing when to use what type of compound word takes practice and familiarization. Your best bet would be writing with an easy-to-use spell and grammar checker like LanguageTool. Compound adjectives are two words joined into one to describe a noun .
For example, a verb + a noun can also create a compound noun (e.g., swimsuit). Compounds words are when two or more words are joined together, creating a new word. Read on to learn about the many types of compound words. Headache is an example of compound wordsA compound is a result of combining two or more words to form a new English term with different meanings. It is vital in writing, reading, and speaking as a compound word provides information from two different ideas. Because the English language is so flexible and constantly changing, more and more new compound words appear in English dictionaries.
The latter is an example of a compound word that is sometimes written opened, and sometimes closed. Here is our list of compound words to add to your writing projects. For most other instances, the best strategy may be to trust what you think looks right. Some writers are more comfortable lumping together compounds than others. Note, though, that whether or not you choose to style a compound as one word or two might convey something about your familiarity with the word . One dictionary that shall not be named was a bit notorious for showing the headword Web site long after most of the civilized world was using website.
Here are some of the words we're currently looking at for a spot in the dictionary. The real estate agent had to take a test to get her license. Copyright ©2022 Infospace Holdings LLC, A System1 Company. The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Answers.
Compound words are when two or more words are joined, creating a different word with another distinct meaning. Many students drop out of school due to financial, personal, and social issues. There is a notice that my parcel will arrive at the post office tomorrow. Nowadays, it’s best to trust ourselves than other people. Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings .
The ambiguity of compound words is what makes them difficult to master. That’s why it’s worth reiterating that you should always have a user-friendly text editor like LanguageTool to help you get the correct spelling of compound words. Keep in mind that compound verbs are usually written with a hyphen or as a closed compound.
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