Plural Rules of Compound Nouns

The Plural of Compound Nouns is made through two situations. One of them concerns the way it is written.

If the compound noun is written withouthyphen, just add the “s”, as with most words that change to the plural. Examples: skylight(s), railroad(s), hobby(s).

The other situation that should be noted is how the noun is written withhyphen is formed (by verb + noun, by words joined by preposition, by repeated words, among others). In such cases, some rules must be observed.

Hyphenated Noun Rules

1) Noun + noun that specifies the first

Only the first element becomes plural. Examples: fountain pen (fountain pens), family wages (family wages), silver bananas (silver bananas).

2) Words joined by preposition

Only the first element changes to the plural, just like the rule above. Examples: starfish (starfish), headless mule (headless mules), peroba-do-campo (peroba-do-campo).

3) Verb or adverb + noun or adjective

Only the second element becomes plural. Examples: petition (undersigned), hummingbird (hummingbirds), evergreen (evergreen).

4) Repeated or onomatopathic words

Only the second element becomes plural, like the rule above. Examples: ping-pong (ping-pong), teco-tec (tec-tec), tick-tock (tic-tock).

5) variable word + variable word

The two elements go into the plural. Remembering that nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, articles and numerals are variable words. Examples: municipal share (shares), fools (fools), mondays (Mondays).

Exercises

Complete the sentences.

1. I have classes every ___. (Tuesday)
2. It was romantic to receive letters brought by ___. (carrier pigeon)
3. Every week I would ___ with my grandmother. (sponge cake)
4. He went out and left the ___ untidy. (closet)
5. Several people were involved in ___. (break)
6. The best ___ in Brazil are from Paraná. (brandy)
7. I've never seen so many ___ together! (Rufous Hornero)
8. They were ___ and managed to overcome the difficulties of everyday life. (cool cold)

See Answer

1. Tuesdays
2. carrier pigeons
3. sponge cakes
4. wardrobe
5. puzzle
6. brandies
7. joãos-de-clay
8. vacationers

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• compound noun
• Simple and compound noun (with many examples)
• Noun Number Inflections
• classification of nouns

Nouns - All Matter