COMPOUND ADJECTIVES

Today while surfing the internet I came across an article titled Compound Adjectives. As you can see from the picture above a hyphen changes the meaning of a sentence.

An adjective describes a noun, 

She likes to eat apples every day.
She likes to eat red apples every day.

(red is an adjective because it describes the apples)

A compound adjectives are adjectives that are made of two or more words. Hyphens (-) are used between the words.

Examples :

• Our office is in a twenty-storey building.
• I have just finished reading a 300-page book.
• He is a well-known writer.
• An English-speaking country.
• A time-saving gadget.
• A thirty-floor building.

Common types of compound adjectives.

Adverb+past participle / noun + ed

a well-known singer
deeply-rooted traditions
a well-mannered man

Adjective+present participle (verb + ing) 

a good-looking boy

a free-standing tower 

Noun+past participle 

a tongue-tied girl
a sun-dried fruit

Adjective+past participle / noun + ed

a short-sighted boy
a long-haired woman

Noun+ adjective

a world-famous writer

Adjective+noun
a last minute decision
deep-sea diving

Noun+noun 
a part-time job

Proper nouns

We don't use a hyphen between two names. For an example :

Simon bought the Charles Dickens books for them.

When do you use the hyphen?

Let's look at the sentences.

Daisy has a big red car. 

If you can add the word  "and" between the two adjectives (Daisy has a big and red car), then you don't have to insert the hyphen.

Daisy is a world famous writer.

Daisy is a world and famous singer. The sentence does not sound correct so you need to use a hyphen.

To practice, just click on this link   Compound Adjectives

Until next time..

Cheers.....