Single-word compound nouns

There are many words which we no longer think of as compounds at all, even though they are clearly made up of two words: a cupboard, a raincoat, a saucepan, the seaside, a'typewriter.

Nouns formed with adjective + noun: e.g. a greenhouse, a heavyweight, longhand, a redhead. Note the difference in meaning when these words are rearranged as adjective + noun: a heavyweight(= a boxer), a 'heavy 'weight(= a weight that is heavy)

Nouns formed with gerund + noun: e.g. drinking water, a frying pan, a walking stick. The meaning is 'something which is used for doing something: e.g. a frying pan (hyphen optional, = a pan that is used for frying).

Nouns formed with noun + gerund: e.g. horse-riding, sightseeing, sunbathing. Here the meaning is ‘the action of’: horse-riding (= the action of riding a horse)

Nouns formed with adverb particles: These compound nouns are combinations of verbs and adverb particles: e.g. breakdown, income, make up.

Nouns formed with noun + noun. When two nouns are used together to form a compound noun, the first noun (noun modifier) usually functions like an adjective and is nearly always in the singular This is the largest category of compound nouns and it can be considered under several headings:

a) Compound nouns in place of phrases with of: e.g.: a car key, a chair leg, a door knob, a typewriter key. When we want to say that one (non-living) thing is part of another, we can use of the key of the car. However, this can sound rather emphatic so we often use a compound noun instead (e. g. a car key) for things which are closely associated.

b) Compound nouns which refer to place. The first word refers to a place and the second word to something that is in that place. Both words are closely associated and are stressed but not hyphenated: e.g. the bank safe, a personal computer, a kitchen sink. Also note place names London Airport, Moscow Stadium, etc.

c) Compound nouns which refer to streets and roads. Where the word street occurs, the stress is on the first syllable: e. g. Baker Street, Oxford Street. Where the word road occurs, both parts are stressed e g 'Canterbury 'Road, the 'Oxford 'Road. Compound place names are not hyphenated.

d) Compound nouns which tell us about purpose: e.g. a bookcase, a can opener, a meeting point, a sheep dog. The second word suggests a use relating to the first (hyphen normally optional). A can opener is ‘a device for opening cans’.

e) Compound nouns which tell us about materials and substances: e. g. a cotton blouse, a gold watch, a plastic raincoat. The first word refers to a substance or material, the second to something made of that substance or material.

f) Compound nouns which classify types: e.g. a horror film, a headlamp, a seat belt. The first word answers the question What kind of? These combinations can be extended to people and the things they do, as in a bookseller, a factory worker, a taxi driver. Note the difference between an 'English teacher (the one who teaches English) and an English 'teacher (the one who is English). Other compounds refer to pieces of apparatus and what operates them, as ina gas boiler, a pressure cooker, a vacuum cleaner.

g) Compound nouns which refer to ‘containers': e.g. a biscuit tin, a coffee cup, a teapot, a sugar bowl. The second item is designed to contain the first.

h) Compound nouns which relate to time. A number of combinations relate specifically to the time at which an activity takes place or to its duration: e.g. afternoon tea, morning coffee, the Sunday lunch, a two-hour walk. Also note other nouns relating to time: an evening dress, a night nurse.

i) Compound nouns formed with 'self, 'man', 'woman' and 'person' self- (stress on some part of the second word): e.g. self-'consciousness, self-con'trol, self-res'pect; man/woman (stress on first word): e.g. an 'airman, a 'fireman, a 'gentleman/woman. Some people replace man by person: a chairperson, a salesperson.

j) Proper nouns with two or more parts: e.g. a Ford car, an IBM computer, a/the Tate Gallery Exhibition.

2. Countable and uncountable nouns. Nouns which can be countable and uncountable with a difference in meaning. Partitives.

Countable and uncountable nouns

Common nouns may be divided into countable and uncountable nouns. As the terminology suggests, countable nouns can combine with numerals like one, two, three, etc., whereas uncountable nouns cannot. Moreover, uncountable nouns are always singular, whereas most countable nouns may be either singular or plural. A number of properties related to this basic difference distinguish the two classes of nouns. The following table lists the most important ones, and provides examples of both types of noun. (The asterisk * marks an example as ungrammatical.)

countable nouns	uncountable nouns
accept the indefinite article: a car, a house, an accident, etc.	do not accept the indefinite article: *a money, *an evidence, *a knowledge, etc.
typically have a plural form: car - cars, house - houses, accident - accidents	have no plural form: money - *moneys, evidence - *evidences, nonsense - *nonsenses
can, and sometimes must, be replaced by the pronoun one: I sold my old car and bought a newone.	cannot be replaced by the pronoun one: *Bill prefers empirical evidence to anecdotal one.
in the plural, combine with plural quantifiers like many, a great number of, etc.: many cars, a great number of houses	only combine with singular quantifiers like much, a great deal of, etc.: much evidence, a great deal of money

All common nouns fall into one of two sub-classes: they may be either countable nouns (sometimes known as unit or count nouns) or uncountable nouns (sometimes known as mass or non-count nouns).

Unfortunately, we cannot always rely on common sense (using the idea of counting as a guide) to tell us when a noun is countable or uncountable. For example, the noun information is uncountable in English, but its equivalent in another language may refer to an item or items of information and will therefore be countable. Experience is uncountable, but we can refer to an experience to mean ‘an event which contributes to experience’:

e.g. They want someone with experience for this job.

I had a strange experience the other day.

Many nouns which are normally uncountable can be used as countable in certain contexts. This suggests that strict classifications of nouns as countable or uncountable are in many cases unreliable. It would be better to think in terms of countable and uncountable uses of nouns. For detailed information about individual nouns, consult a good dictionary.

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