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fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M14.234 10.162L22.977 0h-2.072l-7.591 8.824L7.251 0H.258l9.168 13.343L.258 24H2.33l8.016-9.318L16.749 24h6.993zm-2.837 3.299l-.929-1.329L3.076 1.56h3.182l5.965 8.532l.929 1.329l7.754 11.09h-3.182z\"\u002F>",{"id":47,"title":48,"author":49,"body":50,"cefrLevel":690,"date":49,"description":691,"exercises":692,"extension":758,"faqs":759,"gcseTier":49,"intro":49,"language":772,"lastUpdated":49,"meta":773,"navigation":774,"path":775,"seo":776,"stem":777,"verbSlugs":49,"__hash__":778},"pages\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcompound-nouns.md","Compound nouns in English: car park, coffee cup, and why GREENhouse is not green HOUSE",null,{"type":51,"value":52,"toc":679},"minimark",[53,70,73,78,86,129,136,258,262,284,295,317,321,335,345,349,356,391,394,434,437,441,444,499,510,514,517,609,613,616,652,658],[54,55,56,57,61,62,65,66,69],"p",{},"English has a cheap and endless way of making new nouns: put two old ones next\nto each other. A park for cars is a ",[58,59,60],"em",{},"car park",". A cup for coffee is a ",[58,63,64],{},"coffee\ncup",". A table in the kitchen is a ",[58,67,68],{},"kitchen table",". No new word had to be\ninvented, no grammar had to change, and every English speaker understands the\nresult at first hearing.",[54,71,72],{},"This is worth learning as a system, not as a word list, because the system is\nhow English actually grows. Learn the pattern and you can read compounds you\nhave never seen before, and build ones nobody has bothered to teach you.",[74,75,77],"h2",{"id":76},"the-second-noun-is-the-thing","The second noun is the thing",[54,79,80,81,85],{},"Every compound has a head, and in English the head comes ",[82,83,84],"strong",{},"last",". The final\nnoun names the thing; everything before it only describes.",[87,88,89,105,117],"ul",{},[90,91,92,93,96,97,100,101,104],"li",{},"A ",[58,94,95],{},"coffee cup"," is a ",[82,98,99],{},"cup",". It may be empty. A ",[58,102,103],{},"cup of coffee"," is coffee.",[90,106,92,107,96,109,112,113,116],{},[58,108,60],{},[82,110,111],{},"park"," for cars. A ",[58,114,115],{},"park car"," would be a car.",[90,118,92,119,96,121,124,125,128],{},[58,120,68],{},[82,122,123],{},"table",". A ",[58,126,127],{},"table kitchen"," is not English.",[54,130,131,132,135],{},"The test is one question: ",[82,133,134],{},"what is it?"," If you can answer \"it is a kind of\nX\", then X goes last. Learners whose first language builds these the other way\nround reverse them under pressure, and the result is not a small mistake; it\nchanges what the phrase means, or empties it of meaning entirely.",[123,137,138,154],{},[139,140,141],"thead",{},[142,143,144,148,151],"tr",{},[145,146,147],"th",{},"Compound",[145,149,150],{},"The thing (head)",[145,152,153],{},"The describer",[155,156,157,169,180,193,206,219,232,245],"tbody",{},[142,158,159,164,166],{},[160,161,162],"td",{},[58,163,60],{},[160,165,111],{},[160,167,168],{},"for cars",[142,170,171,175,177],{},[160,172,173],{},[58,174,95],{},[160,176,99],{},[160,178,179],{},"for coffee",[142,181,182,187,190],{},[160,183,184],{},[58,185,186],{},"bus stop",[160,188,189],{},"stop",[160,191,192],{},"for buses",[142,194,195,200,203],{},[160,196,197],{},[58,198,199],{},"bedroom",[160,201,202],{},"room",[160,204,205],{},"for beds",[142,207,208,213,216],{},[160,209,210],{},[58,211,212],{},"post office",[160,214,215],{},"office",[160,217,218],{},"for post",[142,220,221,226,229],{},[160,222,223],{},[58,224,225],{},"shoe shop",[160,227,228],{},"shop",[160,230,231],{},"selling shoes",[142,233,234,239,242],{},[160,235,236],{},[58,237,238],{},"football",[160,240,241],{},"ball",[160,243,244],{},"for the foot",[142,246,247,252,255],{},[160,248,249],{},[58,250,251],{},"sports day",[160,253,254],{},"day",[160,256,257],{},"for sports",[74,259,261],{"id":260},"the-first-noun-stays-singular","The first noun stays singular",[54,263,264,265,268,269,271,272,275,276,279,280,283],{},"Even when the meaning is clearly plural, the describing noun almost always\ndrops its ",[58,266,267],{},"s",". A shop that sells shoes is a ",[82,270,225],{},", not a ",[58,273,274],{},"shoes shop",".\nA brush for teeth is a ",[82,277,278],{},"toothbrush",". A race for horses is a ",[82,281,282],{},"horse race",",\nhowever many horses run in it.",[54,285,286,287,290,291,294],{},"The plural goes on the end, where the head is, because the head is the thing\nbeing counted: ",[58,288,289],{},"one car park, two car parks","; ",[58,292,293],{},"one coffee cup, six coffee\ncups",".",[54,296,297,298,301,302,301,305,308,309,312,313,316],{},"A few compounds keep a plural first noun because the singular form barely\nexists or means something else: ",[58,299,300],{},"clothes shop",", ",[58,303,304],{},"sports car",[58,306,307],{},"savings\naccount",". Learn these as items; they are the exceptions, not the rule. And one\nfamous family puts the plural in the middle, because the head sits at the\nfront for once: ",[58,310,311],{},"mother-in-law"," becomes ",[82,314,315],{},"mothers-in-law",", since the mothers\nare the ones you are counting.",[74,318,320],{"id":319},"compounds-stack","Compounds stack",[54,322,323,324,326,327,330,331,334],{},"English does not stop at two nouns. A ",[58,325,60],{}," can have a ",[58,328,329],{},"car park ticket",",\nand the machine that sells them is a ",[58,332,333],{},"car park ticket machine",". Newspapers\nbuild four- and five-noun towers daily.",[54,336,337,338,124,341,344],{},"The reading rule does not change: ",[82,339,340],{},"start from the right",[58,342,343],{},"car park ticket\nmachine"," is a machine, for tickets, for the car park. Each noun to the left\ndescribes everything to its right. Read a long compound left to right as if\neach word were the subject and you will drown; read it from the right and it\nopens like a set of boxes.",[74,346,348],{"id":347},"stress-greenhouse-is-not-green-house","Stress: GREENhouse is not green HOUSE",[54,350,351,352,355],{},"Here is the part writing cannot show you, and the part that most reliably\nmarks a learner in speech. English uses ",[82,353,354],{},"stress"," to separate a compound noun\nfrom an ordinary adjective plus noun.",[87,357,358,375],{},[90,359,360,361,364,365,368,369,301,372,294],{},"A compound takes the stress on the ",[82,362,363],{},"first"," word: ",[58,366,367],{},"GREENhouse",",\n",[58,370,371],{},"BLACKbird",[58,373,374],{},"HOT dog",[90,376,377,378,381,382,301,385,301,388,294],{},"An adjective phrase takes the stress on the ",[82,379,380],{},"noun",": ",[58,383,384],{},"a green HOUSE",[58,386,387],{},"a\nblack BIRD",[58,389,390],{},"a hot DOG",[54,392,393],{},"The pairs are not the same thing:",[87,395,396,405,414,425],{},[90,397,92,398,400,401,404],{},[58,399,367],{}," is a glass building for plants. A ",[58,402,403],{},"green HOUSE"," is a house\nsomeone painted green.",[90,406,92,407,409,410,413],{},[58,408,371],{}," is one particular species. A ",[58,411,412],{},"black BIRD"," is any bird that\nhappens to be black.",[90,415,416,417,420,421,424],{},"An ",[58,418,419],{},"ENGLISH teacher"," teaches English. An ",[58,422,423],{},"English TEACHER"," is a teacher who\nis English, and might teach anything.",[90,426,92,427,429,430,433],{},[58,428,374],{}," comes with mustard. A ",[58,431,432],{},"hot DOG"," needs water and shade.",[54,435,436],{},"If you stress the second word of a compound, a listener will quietly hear the\nwrong meaning and reconstruct yours from context. They will manage. But the\nfirst-word stress is what makes a compound sound like one unit instead of two\nwords standing near each other, and it costs nothing to get right.",[74,438,440],{"id":439},"one-word-two-words-or-a-hyphen","One word, two words or a hyphen",[54,442,443],{},"The honest answer: English has never decided, and native speakers argue about\nindividual cases. But the tendency is strong enough to use.",[87,445,446,468,486],{},[90,447,448,451,452,301,454,301,456,301,459,301,462,368,464,467],{},[82,449,450],{},"One word"," for old, short, everyday compounds that have fully grown\ntogether: ",[58,453,199],{},[58,455,238],{},[58,457,458],{},"weekend",[58,460,461],{},"postman",[58,463,278],{},[58,465,466],{},"greenhouse",". Age and frequency close the gap.",[90,469,470,473,474,368,476,301,478,301,480,301,483,485],{},[82,471,472],{},"Two words"," for newer, longer, or less common pairings: ",[58,475,60],{},[58,477,95],{},[58,479,186],{},[58,481,482],{},"swimming pool",[58,484,68],{},". This is the\ndefault. A new compound is born as two words and earns its way to one.",[90,487,488,491,492,301,495,498],{},[82,489,490],{},"A hyphen"," mainly when the compound is used to describe another noun (",[58,493,494],{},"a\nfull-time job",[58,496,497],{},"a two-hour meeting",") or when the parts would be misread\nwithout one. Standing alone as nouns, hyphenated compounds are a shrinking\ngroup; British style has been dropping hyphens for a century.",[54,500,501,502,505,506,509],{},"Practical advice: when in doubt, write two words. A wrongly split ",[58,503,504],{},"bed room","\nlooks old-fashioned; a wrongly joined ",[58,507,508],{},"busstop"," looks wrong. Two words is the\nsafe error, and the dictionary is the referee when it matters.",[74,511,513],{"id":512},"common-mistakes","Common mistakes",[54,515,516],{},"Ranked by how often learners actually make them.",[518,519,520,543,558,588,598],"ol",{},[90,521,522,525,526,301,529,532,533,301,536,539,540,294],{},[82,523,524],{},"Plural first noun."," ",[58,527,528],{},"A shoes shop",[58,530,531],{},"a books case",". The describing noun\nstays singular: ",[58,534,535],{},"a shoe shop",[58,537,538],{},"a bookcase",". Count the head instead: ",[58,541,542],{},"two\nshoe shops",[90,544,545,525,548,301,551,554,555,557],{},[82,546,547],{},"Reversed order.",[58,549,550],{},"A park car",[58,552,553],{},"a cup coffee",". The thing goes last. If\nit is a kind of cup, ",[58,556,99],{}," ends the compound.",[90,559,560,525,563,301,566,569,570,573,574,577,578,581,582,301,585,294],{},[82,561,562],{},"Using of where English compounds.",[58,564,565],{},"The key of the car",[58,567,568],{},"the stop of\nthe bus",". Grammatical, but heavy and foreign-sounding. English strongly\nprefers ",[58,571,572],{},"the car key"," and ",[58,575,576],{},"the bus stop",". Keep ",[58,579,580],{},"of"," for relationships that\ndo not compound: ",[58,583,584],{},"the end of the road",[58,586,587],{},"the top of the stairs",[90,589,590,525,593,595,596,294],{},[82,591,592],{},"Stressing the second word.",[58,594,403],{}," for the glass building. The\ncompound wants its stress up front: ",[58,597,367],{},[90,599,600,525,603,301,606,608],{},[82,601,602],{},"Inventing one-word spellings.",[58,604,605],{},"Carpark",[58,607,508],{},". Common on signs,\nstill non-standard on the page. When unsure, two words.",[74,610,612],{"id":611},"practice","Practice",[54,614,615],{},"Say what each one means, then check below.",[518,617,618,626,634,642,648],{},[90,619,92,620,622,623],{},[58,621,282],{}," and a ",[58,624,625],{},"race horse",[90,627,92,628,622,631],{},[58,629,630],{},"garden flower",[58,632,633],{},"flower garden",[90,635,92,636,622,639],{},[58,637,638],{},"milk bottle",[58,640,641],{},"bottle of milk",[90,643,644,647],{},[58,645,646],{},"An ENGLISH teacher"," (stress on English)",[90,649,92,650],{},[58,651,333],{},[54,653,654,657],{},[82,655,656],{},"Answers:"," 1. A race for horses; a horse bred for racing. 2. A flower\ngrowing in a garden; a garden full of flowers. 3. A bottle made to hold milk,\npossibly empty; milk. 4. A teacher of English, of any nationality. 5. A\nmachine that sells tickets for the car park - read it from the right.",[54,659,660,661,666,667,671,672,675,676,294],{},"Compounds are one of the two great vocabulary-multiplying machines in English.\nThe other is ",[662,663,665],"a",{"href":664},"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fword-formation-prefixes","word formation with prefixes",",\nwhich builds new words at the front instead of the back. And since the head\nnoun decides whether the whole compound is countable, the rules in\n",[662,668,670],{"href":669},"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcountable-and-uncountable-nouns","countable and uncountable nouns","\napply to the last word: ",[58,673,674],{},"two coffee cups",", but ",[58,677,678],{},"some kitchen furniture",{"title":680,"searchDepth":681,"depth":681,"links":682},"",2,[683,684,685,686,687,688,689],{"id":76,"depth":681,"text":77},{"id":260,"depth":681,"text":261},{"id":319,"depth":681,"text":320},{"id":347,"depth":681,"text":348},{"id":439,"depth":681,"text":440},{"id":512,"depth":681,"text":513},{"id":611,"depth":681,"text":612},"B1-B2","How English stacks nouns into new units: which noun names the thing and which one describes it, why the first noun stays singular, the compound stress rule (GREENhouse vs green HOUSE), and when to write one word, two words or a hyphen.",[693,714,737],{"type":694,"instructions":695,"options":696,"items":697},"which-one","Choose the compound noun that matches each meaning.",[60,95,68,186,238,199,482,212],[698,700,702,704,706,708,710,712],{"prompt":699,"answer":60},"a place where you leave your car",{"prompt":701,"answer":95},"a cup made for drinking coffee",{"prompt":703,"answer":68},"the table that stands in the kitchen",{"prompt":705,"answer":186},"the place where you wait for the bus",{"prompt":707,"answer":238},"a game you play with your feet and a ball",{"prompt":709,"answer":199},"the room where you sleep",{"prompt":711,"answer":482},"a pool built for swimming",{"prompt":713,"answer":212},"the office where you post letters",{"type":715,"instructions":716,"items":717},"fill-blank","Write one word to complete each compound noun.",[718,720,722,724,726,728,731,734],{"prompt":719,"answer":189},"You wait for the bus at the bus ___.",{"prompt":721,"answer":111},"She left the car in the car ___.",{"prompt":723,"answer":123},"We eat breakfast at the kitchen ___.",{"prompt":725,"answer":238},"He plays ___ every Saturday morning.",{"prompt":727,"answer":215},"I posted the letter at the post ___.",{"prompt":729,"answer":730},"A glass building for growing plants is a green___.","house",{"prompt":732,"answer":733},"The man who drives the bus is the bus ___.","driver",{"prompt":735,"answer":736},"A shop that sells shoes is a ___ shop.","shoe",{"type":738,"instructions":739,"pairs":740},"match","Match each spoken form to the thing it names. The capital letters show the stress.",[741,744,746,749,752,755],{"left":742,"right":743},"a GREENhouse","a glass building for plants",{"left":384,"right":745},"a house painted green",{"left":747,"right":748},"a BLACKbird","one particular kind of bird",{"left":750,"right":751},"a black BIRD","any bird that is black",{"left":753,"right":754},"an ENGLISH teacher","a teacher of English",{"left":756,"right":757},"an English TEACHER","a teacher who is English","md",[760,763,766,769],{"q":761,"a":762},"What is a compound noun in English?","A compound noun is two or more words used together as a single noun with its own meaning: car park, coffee cup, kitchen table, bus stop. The last noun names the thing and the words before it describe it, so a coffee cup is a kind of cup, not a kind of coffee. English builds new vocabulary this way constantly, which is why learning the pattern is worth more than learning any single example.",{"q":764,"a":765},"Which noun is the main one in a compound noun?","The last one. English compounds put the head at the end: a car park is a park for cars, a park car would be a car. If you are ever unsure what a long compound means, read it from the right: a car park ticket machine is a machine, for tickets, for the car park. The words to the left only describe.",{"q":767,"a":768},"Why is greenhouse stressed differently from green house?","Because stress is how English marks the difference between a compound and an ordinary adjective plus noun. A compound takes the stress on the first word: a GREENhouse is a glass building for growing plants. An adjective phrase takes the stress on the noun: a green HOUSE is any house painted green. The words are identical on paper; only the stress tells a listener which one you mean.",{"q":770,"a":771},"Should I write compound nouns as one word, two words or with a hyphen?","There is no complete rule, only a strong tendency: old, short, everyday compounds have grown together into one word (bedroom, football, weekend), newer and longer ones stay as two words (car park, coffee cup, bus stop), and hyphens mostly appear when a compound is used to describe another noun (a full-time job) or when the parts would be misread without one. When in doubt, write two words and let a dictionary settle arguments.","english",{},true,"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcompound-nouns",{"title":48,"description":691},"english\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcompound-nouns","YN-TgbLa_YvIN2tnADQg4nDfhKfJlWb3pcpFG6e4vx0",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":780},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M13 21h8M15 5l4 4m2.174-2.188a1 1 0 0 0-3.986-3.987L3.842 16.174a2 2 0 0 0-.5.83l-1.321 4.352a.5.5 0 0 0 .623.622l4.353-1.32a2 2 0 0 0 .83-.497z\"\u002F>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":782},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M11 4.702a.705.705 0 0 0-1.203-.498L6.413 7.587A1.4 1.4 0 0 1 5.416 8H3a1 1 0 0 0-1 1v6a1 1 0 0 0 1 1h2.416a1.4 1.4 0 0 1 .997.413l3.383 3.384A.705.705 0 0 0 11 19.298zM16 9a5 5 0 0 1 0 6m3.364 3.364a9 9 0 0 0 0-12.728\"\u002F>"]