Using Hyphens with Compound Nouns

2022-06-04

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1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will continue to answer a question from Yousra, from Egypt, about using hyphens when making compound nouns.
  • 2
  • Hello, my name is Yousra from Egypt.
  • 3
  • I would like to know when I should use a hyphen (-) between two words like, "top-selling" or "well-being."
  • 4
  • Thanks.
  • 5
  • Dear Yousra,
  • 6
  • Thank you for your question! In this week's program, we will learn some general rules for creating compound nouns with hyphens.
  • 7
  • In last week's program, we talked about using hyphens to create a compound adjective.
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  • For example, top-selling, meaning, "having the most sales."
  • 9
  • A hyphen (-) is used to combine two or more words together.
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  • A compound noun is two or more nouns combined to create a single noun expression.
  • 11
  • While we write most compound nouns as one word ("raindrop") or two separate words ("high school"), some compound nouns use a hyphen.
  • 12
  • For example, "well-being," or the state of being happy, healthy, or successful.
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  • We use hyphens with compound nouns so that the sentence is clear and understandable.
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  • Just like compound adjectives, you can create compound nouns from adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and other nouns.
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  • 1. When combining a verb and an adverb to create a compound noun, use a hyphen.
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  • The hyphen connects the adverb to the verb and not another word in the sentence.
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  • For example, let's look at the compound noun, "take-out."
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  • It means food you order from a restaurant to pick up and take with you.
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  • Every Friday night I love getting take-out from my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant.
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  • 2. A hyphen is required for compound nouns made from two nouns.
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  • These types of nouns act as a unit, like in these examples, "English-speakers" or "hunter-gatherer."
  • 22
  • There are over 1.5 billion English-speakers in the world!
  • 23
  • There are many hunter-gatherer societies today that still depend on the natural environment for food.
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  • 3. Always check your dictionary if you are unsure if a compound noun requires a hyphen.
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  • There are many exceptions to these rules.
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  • And, sometimes, a word that once required a hyphen changes over time to become a one-word compound or a two-word compound.
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  • Please let us know if these rules, explanations, and examples have helped you, Yousra.
  • 28
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
  • 29
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
  • 30
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
  • 1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will continue to answer a question from Yousra, from Egypt, about using hyphens when making compound nouns.
  • 2
  • Question:
  • 3
  • Hello, my name is Yousra from Egypt.
  • 4
  • I would like to know when I should use a hyphen (-) between two words like, "top-selling" or "well-being."
  • 5
  • Thanks.
  • 6
  • Answer:
  • 7
  • Dear Yousra,
  • 8
  • Thank you for your question! In this week's program, we will learn some general rules for creating compound nouns with hyphens.
  • 9
  • Review of hyphens
  • 10
  • In last week's program, we talked about using hyphens to create a compound adjective. For example, top-selling, meaning, "having the most sales."
  • 11
  • A hyphen (-) is used to combine two or more words together.
  • 12
  • What is a compound noun?
  • 13
  • A compound noun is two or more nouns combined to create a single noun expression. While we write most compound nouns as one word ("raindrop") or two separate words ("high school"), some compound nouns use a hyphen. For example, "well-being," or the state of being happy, healthy, or successful.
  • 14
  • We use hyphens with compound nouns so that the sentence is clear and understandable. Just like compound adjectives, you can create compound nouns from adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and other nouns.
  • 15
  • How to use hyphens to make compound nouns
  • 16
  • 1. When combining a verb and an adverb to create a compound noun, use a hyphen. The hyphen connects the adverb to the verb and not another word in the sentence. For example, let's look at the compound noun, "take-out." It means food you order from a restaurant to pick up and take with you.
  • 17
  • Every Friday night I love getting take-out from my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant.
  • 18
  • 2. A hyphen is required for compound nouns made from two nouns. These types of nouns act as a unit, like in these examples, "English-speakers" or "hunter-gatherer."
  • 19
  • There are over 1.5 billion English-speakers in the world!
  • 20
  • There are many hunter-gatherer societies today that still depend on the natural environment for food.
  • 21
  • 3. Always check your dictionary if you are unsure if a compound noun requires a hyphen. There are many exceptions to these rules. And, sometimes, a word that once required a hyphen changes over time to become a one-word compound or a two-word compound.
  • 22
  • Please let us know if these rules, explanations, and examples have helped you, Yousra.
  • 23
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
  • 24
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
  • 25
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
  • 26
  • Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
  • 27
  • Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
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  • ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________________
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  • Words in This Story
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  • compound noun- n. (grammar) two or more nouns combined to create a single noun expression.
  • 31
  • unit - n. a single thing or a separate part of something larger
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  • societies - n. people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values