Compound Adjectives
What is a compound adjective?
A compound adjective (also known as a compound modifieror a phrasal adjective) is created by two or more words that work jointly to modify the same noun; they always appear before the noun they modify, and they are usually joined together by a hyphen (or hyphens) to clarify that the words are working as a single modifying unit.
Creating compound adjectives
Compound adjectives are made up of multiple words, and, in various combinations, they can be composed of adjectives, nouns, quantifiers, participles, and adverbs.
Sometimes, other types of words are used to join two (or more) others. For example, the conjunction and is often used between two nouns or two adjectives to create a three-word compound adjective.
Let’s look at some examples of the different combinations we can make below.
Adjective + Adjective
When multiple adjectives are used to modify the same noun, they usually appear with commas between them or simply in a row with no punctuation, depending on the order of adjectives. If two or more adjectives are functioning together as a single unit, though, we must use hyphens. This most commonly occurs with colors or position, as in:
“She had bright, blue-green eyes.”“His orange-yellow skin looked very unhealthy.”“Look in the top-right corner of the screen.”“The scissors are in the bottom-left drawer.”
More often, adjectives are paired with other parts of speech to create compound nouns, as we shall see.
Adjective + Noun
It is very common to follow an adjective with a noun to create a compound adjective:
“They went on a wild-goose chase.”“I can only find part-time work at the moment.”“The dog is a short-hair breed.”“I know this is a last-minute suggestion, but hear me out.”It is equally common to use nouns before adjectives, as in:“I’d love an ice-cold soda right about now.”“Do you have any sugar-free cookies?”
Quantifiers
When we use a quantifier (a kind of determiner) with a noun to create a compound adjective, we often pair the quantifier with a noun of measurement (length, height, weight, age, or time). For example:
“It is the only 10-storey building in the town.”“We bought a three-foot sandwich to share.”“The eight-pound bag fell to the floor.”“This is a very nice 12-year whiskey.”
When indicating age, we often add the adjective old to the end, as in:
“His 11-year-old niece is coming to visit.”
(Note that we also use this same hyphenation when making a compound noun from an age, as in “My 11-year-old is coming to visit.”)
When we indicate cost, we normally use quantifiers with symbols of currency, such as $, £, €, etc. When the currency is spelled out, however, we must use hyphens to form compound adjectives. Likewise, we use hyphens if the numerals are spelled out as well. For example:
“He bought a $5,000 computer.”“He bought a 5,000-dollar computer.”“He bought a five-thousand-dollar computer.”
We can also use quantifiers with other nouns, too:
“There was an 11-car pileup on the highway.”“The theater has a 400-person capacity.”
Past and present participles can be paired with adjectives, nouns, and adverbs to form compound adjectives. For example:
With nouns
“Many legends still survive about man-eating whales, but they are simply untrue.”“It’s another record-breaking race for the Kenyan runner.”“There are many mouth-watering items on the menu.”“I won’t spend another night in this dust-ridden house.”“The crocodile-infested waters are particularly dangerous.”
With adjectives
“The table is made from rough-hewn wood.”“My old-fashioned aunt would never approve.”“There are several delicious-sounding things on the menu.”“He has an expensive-looking car.”
With adverbs
“This company runs like a well-oiled machine.”“Our eyes had to adjust in the dimly-lit corridor.”“There are a only few well-running cars to choose from.”“We need some forward-thinking individuals for the job.”“My early-rising brother always baulks at me when I sleep in late.”
Prepositions are also used to form compound adjectives, as in:
“You need an up-to-date computer to run this software.”“I’ve lived in too many run-down apartments.”
Other cases
And
When the conjunction and is used between two words (usually nouns) to join them as a single modifier, we must hyphenate all three words. For example:
“I find her salt-and-pepper hair very attractive.”“These old stone-and-mortar buildings have stood the test of time.”
Proper nouns
We sometimes use a multi-word proper noun to identify a noun as belonging to a particular person or brand. In this case, we do not hyphenate the words. For example:
“Can you play any Elton John songs?”“Did you see the Arthur Miller play on Broadway?”
Occasionally it is possible to use pronouns (especially personal pronouns) to form compound adjectives, though this is not very common. For example:
“It turned into a he-said-she-said situation.”
Adverbs before adjectives
Adverbs are often used in conjunction with adjectives to jointly modify a noun, but they are not really considered to be compound adjectives and they usually do not require a hyphen—the fact that they work together with the adjective is implied. For example:
“It was a very brave thing to do.”“She is an exceptionally talented girl.”
Quiz
1. Which punctuation mark do we use to create compound adjectives?
a) comma
b) semicolon
c) hyphen
d) period
2. Which of the following cannot be used to form compound adjectives?
a) participles
b) verbs
c) nouns
d) prepositions
3. Which of the following are not hyphenated when functioning as compound adjectives?
a) proper nouns
b) adjectives
c) quantifiers
d) pronouns
4. Identify the combination used to create the compound adjective (in bold) in the following sentence:
“It was my well-educated apprentice who saved the day.”
a) adjective + noun
b) adverb + past participle
c) adjective + past participle
d) noun + adjective
No comments:
Post a Comment