Compound Words
B1 · IntermediateWord FormationBus + stop → bus stop, tooth + brush → toothbrush, well + known → well-known — the same pattern, three different spellings.
What you'll learn
- A compound word combines two (or more) words into a single unit with a new, often more specific meaning: bus + stop → bus stop
- Compounds can be written as one word (toothbrush), as two separate words (bus stop), or hyphenated (well-known)
- There's no reliable rule for which spelling a given compound uses — it has to be learned per word, and the same compound can even shift over time (e-mail became email)
- In many noun+noun compounds, English stresses the first word: a 'greenhouse (a glass building for plants) vs. a green 'house (a house that happens to be green)
What a compound word is
A compound combines two independent words into a single new unit whose meaning is often more specific than just adding the two words together — a bus stop isn't just 'a bus' plus 'a stop', it's a fixed, specific kind of place.
Closed, open, and hyphenated compounds
The same kind of noun+noun compound can be spelled three different ways in English, and there's no shortcut — each one has to be learned individually.
Stress can signal meaning
For many open noun+noun compounds, stressing the first word signals that it's being used as a fixed compound with a specific meaning, not just a description.
Real English
Watch out
English typically stacks two nouns directly (bus stop) rather than linking them with 'of' — 'of' phrases are common, but a fixed everyday compound like this one doesn't use one.
'notebook' is a closed compound (one word) — there's no rule to predict this, it simply has to be learned.
Real life — Giving directions
"Excuse me, do you know where the nearest bus stop is?"
"Yes, just go past the coffee shop and it's right next to the train station."
"Perfect, thank you! Is it far from here?"
"Not at all — it's a five-minute walk, maybe less."
Practice
Exercise 1 · Choose the correctly spelled compound
Which is a correctly spelled closed (one-word) compound?
Exercise 2 · Choose the correctly spelled compound
Which is a correctly spelled open (two-word) compound?
Exercise 3 · Choose the correctly spelled compound
Which is a correctly spelled hyphenated compound?
Exercise 4 · Choose the correct meaning
'A greenhouse' (stress on 'green') most likely refers to:
Exercise 5 · Choose the correct compound
Choose the correct compound: a place where a bus stops.
Exercise 6 · Choose the correct compound
Choose the correct compound: a brush for cleaning teeth.
Exercise 7 · Choose the correct compound
Choose the correct compound: a card used for credit.
Exercise 8 · Choose the correct sentence
Which sentence uses a compound noun correctly?
Exercise 9 · Combine the words
Combine the two words into one compound noun: rain + coat → ___
Exercise 10 · Combine the words
Combine the two words into one open compound noun (two separate words): living + room → ___ ___
Exercise 11 · Sort the compounds into groups
0 / 8 sorted
Quick challenge
Five quick questions to check what stuck.
Question 1 / 5
Score: 0/0
Which spelling type has no reliable rule — it simply has to be learned per word?
You learned
- A compound word combines two or more words into a single unit with a new, more specific meaning.
- Compounds can be closed (toothbrush), open (bus stop), or hyphenated (well-known), with no rule predicting which.
- Stress on the first word often signals a fixed compound meaning, as in a 'greenhouse vs. a green 'house.
Related grammar lessons
Suffixes
Learn how suffixes attach to the end of a word and usually change its word class — noun-forming suffixes like -tion/-ment/-ness, adjective-forming suffixes like -ful/-able, verb-forming suffixes like -ize/-ify, and the adverb-forming -ly.
Prefixes
Learn how prefixes attach to the front of a word to change its meaning — including the four different negative prefixes English uses (un-, dis-, non-, in-/im-/il-/ir-) and other common meaning-changing prefixes like re-, over-, under-, pre-, and mis-.
Changing Word Classes
An overview of how English words shift between word classes — mainly through suffixes, while prefixes usually change meaning without changing class — and a preview of the more surprising mechanism covered in its own lesson: conversion, where a word changes class with no visible change at all.
Conversion / Zero Derivation
Learn about conversion (zero derivation) — English's most surprising way of changing a word's class, where a word shifts to a new part of speech with absolutely no prefix, suffix, or any change in form at all.