What is a Compound Words?
A compound word is where two or more root words are merged into a new and different word.
Compound words can be written in three ways:
- Open compounds
- Closed compounds
- Hyphenated compounds
Common Compound Word Examples
Compound word: Football
Individual words: Foot + ball
Compound word: Notebook
Individual words: Note + book
Compound word: Railroad
Individual words: Rail + road
Compound word: Snowball
Individual words: Snow + ball
Open Compound Words
Open compound words are slightly different because they still appear as two words separated by a space. However, we still consider them a compound word because when they are used together they take on a new and different meaning.
Examples:
- Living room
- Full moon
- Ice cream
- peanut butter
- Boy Scouts
- no one
- real estate
- high school
- sweet tooth
- hot dog
- grand jury
- post office
- half sister
- cave in
Closed Compound Words
Closed compound words are the most recognizable of the three different types. These words are created when other smaller words come together to form one new larger word.
Examples:
- Waistcoat
- Railroad
- Mailbox
- bullfrog
- snowball
- mailbox
- grandmother
- railroad
- sometimes
- inside
- upstream
- basketball
- anybody
- outside
- cannot
- skateboard
- everything
- schoolhouse
- grasshopper
- sunflower
- moonlight
Hyphenated Compound Words
Hyphenated compound words can be tricky as there are many rules to remember. However, the main point to remember is that, in most cases, an open compound word will be hyphenated if it’s to modify another noun.
Examples:
- Mother-in-law
- Long-term
- Merry-go-round
- two-fold
- check-in
- father-in-law
- seventy-two
- up-to-date
- one-half
- over-the-counter
Compound words list
| Closed compound words | Open compound words | Hyphenated compound words |
| Waistcoat | Living room | Mother-in-law |
| Railroad | Full moon | Long-term |
| Mailbox | Ice cream | Merry-go-round |
| bullfrog | peanut butter | two-fold |
| snowball | Boy Scouts | check-in |
| mailbox | no one | father-in-law |
| grandmother | real estate | seventy-two |
| sometimes | high school | up-to-date |
| inside | sweet tooth | one-half |
| outside | post office | over-the-counter |
