Speak and Write English with Philip

English with Philip

Compound Words

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What are compound words?

Word combinations  are made up of two (or more) separate words. You can combine nouns (a flatmate), adjectives (lovesick) or verbs (jump-start) to make compound words. Practice these words with your online Teacher and expand your use of different word combinations.

Sometimes they become one word

flatmate (noun)
lovesick (adjective)

Sometimes they become two words:

tourist guide (noun)
travel agent (noun)

Sometimes compound words become hyphenated:

low-paid (adjective)
film-goer (noun)

Note: There are no hard and fast rules about which category compound words go into but a good dictionary will tell you. You can also help yourself by making a note of new words you come across and the category they go into.

Generally the stress is on the first word:

phone-box (noun)
smoke-free (adjective)
spoon-feed (verb)

Practice your use of word combinations during your class with your skypeclass Teacher.

Read more about combination words here.

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