What is a compound noun?
O compound noun is a type of noun made up of more than one word or stem.
They are constituted by the process called "composition", that is, nouns formed from the joining of two words.
- friday - the word friday is formed by two radicals: friday- and fair-;
- hot dog - the word hot dog is formed by two radicals: dog- and hot-;
- sugarcane - the word sugarcane is formed by three radicals: can-, d- and açúc-;
The compound noun can be formed by juxtaposition or by agglutination.
Juxtaposition - when radicals come together unchanged: rainbow, weekend, pastime.
Agglutination - when the radicals come together and, in this process, they undergo changes: brandy (water + burning), vinegar (wine + acre), plateau (flat + high).
Difference between simple and compound nouns
The difference between simple and compound nouns is the number of stems that make up the words. Thus, while the compound noun is formed by at least two radicals (wardrobe), the simple noun is formed by only one radical (clothing).
Compound noun examples
- perfect love
- cologne
- Hummingbird
- beloved
- Seahorse
- cauliflower
- nobleman (son + of + something)
- flower shop
- sunflower
- umbrella
- werewolf (wolf + man)
- savings
- tomboy
- stilt (leg + long)
- family allowance
Compound noun with hyphen
1. Prefixes ending in "r" if the following word begins with the same letter: hyperrealistic, interracial, interregional, interrelation, super-resistant.
2. Compound words that do not have a connecting element: light year, bem-te-vi, fennel, umbrella, hummingbird, cauliflower.
3. Words formed by the prefixes 'ex', 'vice', 'soto': ex-boyfriend, soto-mestre, vice-president.
4. Words formed with prefixes ending in a vowel and starting with the same vowel: anti-inflammatory, microwave.
5. Words formed by the prefixes 'circum', 'pan': panamerican, circumnavigation.
6. Words formed by the prefixes 'post', 'pre' and 'pro': prenatal, postgraduate, pro-disarmament.
7. Words formed by the words 'without', 'beyond', 'newly', 'beyond': below-ocean, overseas, newborn, without-number.
Compound noun without hyphen
1. Words made up of prefixes ending in a vowel and starting with "s" or "r". Remember that the letters 's' or 'r' must be doubled: ultrasonography, adrenal, self-portrait, antisocial, stage control, anteroom.
2. Words formed with prefixes ending in a vowel and beginning with a vowel: contraindication, self-assertion, infrastructure, semi-open.
3. Phrases of any kind (adjective, noun, verbal, adverbial, pronominal, prepositional, conjunctional): watchdog, café au lait, weekend, honey bread, dining room.
4. Compound words that, over time, lost track of the composition process: bigwig, parachute, windshield, bumper.
Plural of compound nouns
Next, learn how to form the plural of compound nouns.
1. Adding -s. Compound nouns that are written without a hyphen form plural like simple nouns, that is, usually with the addition of -s.
Examples: brandies, hobbies, kicks.
2. Passing only the second word to the plural. Only the second word goes plural in the following cases:
1. When the first word of the compound noun is a verb or an adverb and the second word is a noun or an adjective.
Examples: skyscrapers, umbrellas, puzzles.
2. When compound nouns are formed by repeated words or onomatopoeias.
Examples: run-correct, read-read, reco-reco.
3. Putting the two words into the plural. Compound nouns formed by two variable words (noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, article, numeral), the two words go to the plural.
Examples: night watchmen, raw materials, Fridays.
4. Passing only the first word to the plural. Compound nouns linked by preposition, only the first word goes plural.
Examples: eau de cologne, sugar cane, peanuts.
For you to understand better:
- Plural of compound nouns
- Simple and compound noun (with many examples)
- Exercises: Simple and Compound Nouns
- nouns
- classification of nouns