Compound Nouns

Hello people,

So, today I want us to look into compound nouns and review some questions.

What is a compound noun?

A compound noun is a combination of two or more words to form a unit noun. The combination could be from any of the parts of speech (word classes). Just like every other type of noun, compound noun could either be countable or uncountable.

Uncountable compound nouns exist only in the singular form, i.e. they cannot be pluralized, e.g. (chewing gum, tissue paper/ toilet paper, old age, fast food, first aid, pocket money, military police, etc.)?

Countable compound nouns exist both in the singular and plural form, i.e. they can be pluralized, e.g. (car pack || car packs, credit card || credit cards, brother-in-law || brothers-in-law, spoonful || spoonfuls, public toilet || public toilets, etc.)?

Now that we have successfully bifurcated the two forms of compound noun, we are going to focus on the intricate part, which is countable compound nouns.

Pluralization of Compound Nouns

1. When two nouns are compounded to form a compound noun, one of the nouns will act as a nominal adjective, while the other functions as the main noun or head noun. The nominal adjective becomes the describing word, while the main noun is the word being described. It should be noted that the nominal adjective must not be pluralized, it is the noun that is being described that should be pluralized, as it is the main noun or head noun.?

For example, if we consider the compound noun "classroom," both words are nouns. So, which of them would you consider as the descriptive word and the word being described? Class is the word describing room.

So, class is the nominal adjective, while room is the main or head noun. Going by our rule, we mustn't pluralize the nominal adjective but the main noun.

So, the plural form of classroom is classrooms.

We have different kinds of rooms, in this case, class is telling us the type or purpose of the room.

Singular || Plural

child soldier || child soldiers?

court-martial || courts-martial

poet laureate || poets laureate

trade union || trade unions

Boyfriend || boyfriends

Bread-crumb || Bread-crumbs

Boy brigade || Boy brigades

Girl guide || Girl guides

Post office || Post offices

Major general || Major generals

Assistant Director || Assistant Directors

Student Affair || Student Affairs

Notary public || Notaries public

Answer the following questions... @grammar @proofreader @editor @grammarian Grammarly @jobs @teacher @customer service @virtual assistant Content Writing Jobs

1. ?Susan has been urging me to join the ------- A. girl guides B. girls guide C. girls guides D. girl guide (WASSCE-2010-Q-61)
2. The ----- affairs Officer is expecting all of us in the dining room A. Student B. Student’s C. Students D. Students’ (UTME-1987-Q-65)
3. The Secretary-General was shocked at the number of ------ A. child’s soldiers B. childish soldiers C. children soldiers D. child soldiers (UTME-2005- Q-80)
4. Government should invest more in ----- training A. teacher’s B. teacher C. teachers D. teachers’ (UTME-2007-Q-79)
5. Lecturers Egbe and Braimoh have become ------ A. Notary public B. Notaries publics C. Notaries public D. Notary publics (UNIBEN POST-DE–SAT-SEPT-18TH-2010)

2.?When two words of different word classes (parts of speech) are compounded to form a compound noun, if either of the words is a noun, the plural is formed on the noun irrespective of its position, i.e. whether the noun comes first or last, it should be pluralized. But, if neither of the compound words is a noun, the plural is formed on the last word.

Filler-in || Fillers-in

Hanger-on || Hangers-on

Passer-by || Passers-by

Maker-up || Makers-up

On-looker || On-lookers

By-stander || By-standers

Going-on || Goings-on

Bye-law || Bye-laws

Also-ran || Also-rans

Go-between || Go-betweens

Run-in || Run-ins

Higher-up || Higher-ups

Hold -up || Hold -ups

Press-up || Press-ups

Turn-up || Turn-ups

Grown-up || Grown-ups

Send-off || Send-offs

Sign-up || Sign-ups

Mix-up || Mix-ups

Answer the question

1. ?Local governments are authorized to pass ------ A. bye-laws B. bye’s-laws C. byes’-law D. bys-law (WASSCE -1994-Q-60)/ (UTME-2013-Q-78-TYPE –D)