Page 29 - English Vocabulary in Use (Pre & Intermediate)

Compound nouns

Formation

A compound noun is formed from two nouns, or an adjective and a noun. Here are some
common examples.

re
5

X &
i
g

alarm clock dining room (= the room where you eat meals)
credit card film star (e.g. Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster)
table tennis brother-in-law (= your sister’s husband, your husband’s brother)
T-shirt income tax (= the tax you pay on your salary)
earring writing paper (= paper for writing letters)
sunglasses washing machine (= the machine for washing clothes)
traffic lights
cheque book (= a book which has cheques)
tin opener
baby-sitter (= he/she looks after children when parents are out)
parking meter
*mother tongue (= your first language)
*first aid
*science fiction (= stories about the future)
“pedestrian crossing
*box office (= where you buy tickets in cinemas and theatres)
One word or two?
Compound nouns are usually written as two words (e.g. credit card), but sometimes they
are joined by a hyphen (e.g. baby-sitter), or written as one word (e.g. sunglasses).
Unfortunately there is no rule for this, so you may need to check in a dictionary.
Pronunciation

The main stress is usually on the first part (e.g. parking meter) but sometimes it is on both
parts (e.g. mother tongue). In A, the compounds marked “all have the stress on both parts.
Some dictionaries show the stress on compounds.

Forming new compounds
Quite often, one part of a compound forms the basis for a number of compound nouns,
post/ticket/box office traffic lights/warden/jam film/pop/rock star
brother/sister/father/mother -in-law
dining/sitting/waiting room
Note: A traffic jam is a long line of cars which are moving slowly because the road is busy;
and traffic wardens patrol the streets to make sure you are not parked in the wrong place

illegally. You buy theatre tickets at the box office and train tickets at the ticket office.

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English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)