Compound Nouns

A2–B1NounsJanuary 27, 2026

Transcript

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Hello guys, welcome back to this English course on nouns.

In today’s video, I’m going to tell you about compound nouns.

They are very common in English and there are thousands of them.

You need to know about them.

Let’s get started.

A compound noun is made up of two different words.

So you take two words, you put them together, to create a new noun.

They’re usually quite easy to understand.

For example, ‘full moon’.

‘Full’ is obviously the adjective describing the moon.

Let’s take a look at other examples, and how to create compound nouns.

Sometimes, compound nouns are a single noun.

Like, ‘toothpaste’.

Sometimes, they’re two or more words hyphenated.

Such as ‘mother-in-law’.

And sometimes, they’re two separate words, like ‘ice cream’.

Now, you have to be careful.

Sometimes, you have a simple adjective plus a noun like ‘a green house’.

But you also have a compound noun which is a different meaning.

‘A greenhouse’.

Now, ‘a green house’, is a house which is green.

But the compound noun, ‘a greenhouse’, is a place where you grow plants.

Completely different meaning.

Ok, so you have to be careful.

Stresses can help.

Usually the stress is on the first syllable in compound nouns.

Ok, I hope you get it guys.

Let’s take a closer look now at compound nouns.

Ok, let’s now take a look at the parts of speech that make up a compound noun.

We can have a noun and another noun.

Like, ‘bedroom’.

We can also have a noun and a verb.

Like, ‘haircut’.

A noun and a preposition.

Like, ‘passer-by’.

A verb and a noun.

Like, ‘washing machine’.

A verb and a preposition.

Like, ‘drawback’.

A preposition and a noun.

Like, ‘underground’.

An adjective and a ver.

Like, ‘dry-cleaning’.

An adjective and a noun.

Like, ‘software’.

Or a preposition and a verb.

Like, ‘input’.

As you can see guys, there are so many ways to create compound nouns with different words.

Now let’s get back to our example for pronunciation.

Please repeat after me.

Bedroom Bedroom

Haircut Haircut

Passer-by Passer-by

Washing machine Washing machine

Drawback Drawback

Underground Underground

Dry-cleaning Dry-cleaning

Software Software

Input Input

Good job guys.

Now let’s now move on to plural compound nouns.

So when we want to make compound nouns plural, there are rules to follow.

If you have a single word, you simply add an ‘s’.

But if you have separate words, whether hyphenated or not, you will make the most significant

word plural.

Let’s take a look at examples.

‘Newspaper’ will simply be ‘newspapers’.

So I have man newspapers.

Swimming pool.

Now, what’s the most significant word?

Well, it is ‘pool’.

So we will say, ‘there are two swimming pools’.

You cannot say, ‘there are two swimmings pools.’

No ‘s’ at swimming.

Brother-in-law What’s the most significant word?

Well of course, it is ‘brother’.

So you will say, “I have two brothers-in-law”.

And finally, ‘woman doctor’.

Now, what’s the most significant word?

Actually, both words are significant.

So we will both make them plural.

Remember, the plural form of ‘woman’ is ‘women’.

So we will say, “Four women doctors work at the hospital”.

Let’s work on pronunciation.

Can you repeat after me, please.

I have man newspapers.

There are two swimming pools.

I have two brothers-in-law.

And finally, Four women doctors work at the hospital.

Four women doctors work at the hospital.

Good job guys.

Now let’s move on to practice.

To practice, I have a few sentences.

And I want you to tell me if we are using compound nouns or not.

Let’s take a look.

I want to drink some cold water.

Is ‘cold water’ a compound noun?

What do you think?

It isn’t.

‘Cold’ is a simply adjective describing the water.

She has a new boy friend.

Is boy friend a compound noun?

Well, it isn’t in this case.

He’s your friend and he’s a boy.

But the compound noun, ‘boyfriend’, in one word, exists and has a different meaning.

Then, your boyfriend is more than a friend.

He’s the boy you’re having a relationship with.

Other example.

The blue bird was singing in the tree.

Is ‘blue bird’ a compound noun?

Not in this case.

It’s a simple bird and it’s blue.

But, the compound noun, ‘bluebird’, in one word, exists.

It’s a specific bird.

Let’s meet at the bus stop.

Is ‘bus stop’ a compound noun?

What do you think?

It is.

I have two alarms clock.

What about ‘alarms clock’?

Well, it is a compound noun, but there is a big mistake.

Can you see it?

Of course, the plural form.

The plural form is not ‘alarms clock’.

But, ‘alarm clocks’.

Because the most significant word is ‘clock’.

Ok guys, let’s move on.

Thank you for watching.

I hope you better understand compound nouns and how to create them.

There are so many compound nouns in the English language, but they are usually very easy to

understand.

And if you’re not sure, look it up in a dictionary.

The dictionary will tell you if it’s a compound noun or not.

Thank you for watching guys.

And see you in the next videos.

Thank you for watching my video guys.

If you’ve liked it, please show me your support.

Click, ‘like’, subscribe to our channel, put your comments below, and share the video.

See you.

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About this lesson

Learn what compound nouns are, how they are formed, and how to use them correctly in English.

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