Page 119 - Advanced English Grammar in Use

C o m p o u n d n o u n s ( 2 )

Sometimes a noun + noun is not appropriate and instead we use noun + 's + noun (possessive
form) (see Unit 53) or noun + preposition + noun. In general, we prefer noun + 's + noun:
• when the first noun is the user (a person or animal) or users of the item in the second noun:
• a baby's bedroom a lion's den a women's clinic
• when the item in the second noun is produced by the thing (often an animal) in the first:
• goat's cheese duck's eggs cow's milk
(Compare lamb chops, chicken drumsticks (= the lower part of a chicken's leg) when the
animal is killed to produce the item referred to in the second noun.)
• when we talk about parts of people or animals; but we usually use noun + noun to talk about
parts of things. Compare:
• a woman's face a boy's arm a whale's tail a giraffe's neck
a pen top a computer keyboard the window frame

We prefer noun + preposition + noun:
• when we talk about some kind of container together with its contents. Compare:
• a cup of tea (= a cup with tea in it) and • a tea cup (= a cup for drinking tea from)
• a box of matches (= a box with matches in) and • a matchbox (= a box made to put
matches in)
• when the combination of nouns does not necessarily refer to a well-known class of items.
Compare:
• a grammar book (a well-known class of books) but
• a book about cats (rather than 'a cat book')
• income tax (a recognised class of tax) but
• a tax on children's clothes (rather than 'a children's clothes tax')

B Some compound nouns are made up of nouns and prepositions or adverbs, and related to two-
and three-word verbs (see Unit 114). Compare:
• Mansen broke out of the prison by dressing as a woman. (= escaped) and
There was a major break-out from the prison last night. (= prisoners escaped)
• Everyone has put in a lot of effort to make the course successful, and
Universities in Germany and Denmark will have an input into the project.
• I lay down on the sofa and was soon asleep, and
You look tired. Why don't you go and have a lie-down.
a Countable compound nouns related to two- and three-word verbs have a plural form ending in -s:
• • read-out(s) push-up(s) intake(s) outcome(s)
However, there are exceptions. For example:
• looker(s)-on (or onlooker(s)) runner(s)-up passer(s)-by hanger(s)-on

We can form other kinds of hyphenated phrases that are placed before nouns to say more
precisely what the noun refers to:
• a state-of-the-art (= very modern) computer day-to-day (= regular) control
a head-in-the-sand attitude (= refusing to think about unpleasant facts)
a four-wheel-drive vehicle (= one in which the engine provides power to all four wheels so
that it can go over rough ground easily)
a security-card-operated door

Compound nouns (1) =