Page 117 - Advanced English Grammar in Use

r, f
C o m p o u n d n o u n s ( 1 )

When we want to give more specific information about someone or something, we sometimes
use a noun in front of another noun. For example, we can use a noun + noun combination to
say what something is made of, where something is, when something happens, or what someone
does:
• rice pudding a glasshouse the kitchen cupboard hill fog a night flight
a morning call a language teacher a window-cleaner
When a particular combination is regularly used to make a new noun, it is called a COMPOUND
NOUN. We sometimes make compound nouns which consist of more than two nouns:
• a milk chocolate bar an air-traffic controller a dinner-party conversation
Some compound nouns are usually written as one word (e.g. a tablecloth), some as separate
words (e.g. waste paper), and others with a hyphen (e.g. a word-processor). Some compound
nouns can be written in more than one of these ways (e.g. a golf course or a golf-course).
A good dictionary will tell you how a particular compound noun is usually written.

Even if the first noun has a plural meaning, it usually has a singular form:
• an address book (= a book for addresses; not an addresses book)
a car park (= a place for parking cars; not a cars park)
However, there are a number of exceptions. These include:
• nouns that are only used in the plural, or have a different meaning in singular/plural or
countable/uncountable:
• a clothes shop (compare a shoe shop) a darts match a glasses case (= for spectacles)
a customs officer the arms trade a communications network a savings account
• cases such as
• the building materials industry the publications department
when we refer to an institution of some kind (an industry, department, etc.) which deals with
more than one item or activity (building materials, publications). Compare:
• the appointment board (= the board which deals with a particular appointment)
the appointments board (= the board which deals with all appointments)
To make a compound noun plural we usually make the second noun plural:
• coalmine(s) office-worker(s) tea leaf / tea leaves
^However, in compound nouns that consists of two nouns joined by of or in, we make a plural
*form by making the first noun plural:
• bird(s) of prey rule(s) of thumb commander(s)-in-chief
Notice that we say:
• a ten-minute speech a 60-piece orchestra a five-year-old child
but we can say:
• a two-third {or two-thirds) majority a five-time (or five-times) winner

Some compound nouns consist of -ing + noun. (This -ing form is sometimes called a 'gerund',
'verbal noun', or '-ing noun'.) The -ing form usually says what function the following noun has:
• a living room drinking water (a pack of) playing cards chewing gum
a dressing gown a turning-point a working party
Other compound nouns consist of a noun + -ing:
• fly-fishing film-making sunbathing risk-taking life-saving

Compound nouns (2) =