A noun made up of two or more words is a compound noun. Sometimes, we write a compound as one word:
baseball, freeway, keyboard,
volleyball, pathway, toothpaste,
anybody, classroom, treetop,
thumbtack, eyebrow, pigpen
Often, we write compounds as two words:
elementary school, post office, swimming pool,
junk yard, nail polish, gold mine,
computer disk, cassette tape, snow tire,
rabble rouser, house mouse
Others are hyphenated:
brother-in-law, hand-me-down, take-off,
mother-in-law, great-great-grandfather, ex-president,
box-office, merry-go-round, forget-me-nots
There is no pattern for determining whether to spell a compound as one word, two separate words, or one hyphenated word. We must use the dictionary.
Write the compound nouns from this list:
|
elephant |
eyelash |
show-off |
The compounds from the list above are eyelash, show-off, sister-in-law, trash can, cell phone, compact disk, great-aunt, basketball, vice president, great-uncle, and milestone.
Notice that we make the main element plural in a compound:
|
commanders-in-chief |
powers of attorney |
Notice that we do not use an apostrophe to form a plural:
Many songbirds (not songbird's) visit my bird feeder.
Write the plural form of each compound.
|
1. sister of the bride |
2. brother-in-law |
We make the main element plural for each compound:
|
1. sisters of the bride |
2. brothers-in-law |