A compound adjective is a dynamic duo or sometimes trio of words that creates a vivid punch and is considered an unsung hero of engaging and clear writing. They add a pinch of exactness and a hint of description, turning a simple sentence into a vibrant depiction. Thus, unlock the secrets of crafting a winning and clear description with this blog, and dive into the captivating world of this adjective. You are going to explore the definition of a compound adjective, characteristics, rules, types, examples, and a worksheet. So, let’s begin this voyage.
Table of Contents
A compound adjective is formed by combining two or more words to perform as a single role of an adjective in order to modify the noun. This term can be recognized through different names, such as phrasal adjectives. They are used to provide a specific and subtle shade of description, expressing a specific characteristic or quality.
The compound adjective is connected by hyphens (-), mostly but not always. In addition, this adjective is created by adding a noun, a past participle, or a present participle to the adjective. Also, it can communicate about a particular person, place, concern, situation, or thing. Here are some compound adjective examples in sentences that can help you know what it looks like.
1. Andrew is an Open-minded and trustworthy guy.
2. Albert Einstein is a respected and well-known scientist
3. High-quality grains are used to make flour.
4. The villain in the movie was Cold-blooded.
5. The software is created with state-of-the-art encryption to secure user data.
This was the brief meaning of a compound adjective, including all the major points to understand this. Also, these examples may have given you an idea of how this adjective is created and can be used in any form. Now, let’s move forward to the next section and go through the characteristics.
The characteristics help learners learn to identify, classify, and recognise the nature. A compound adjective may have several features, but understanding the major one is important, as it can assist you in forming them. In this section, you will explore the compound adjective key characteristics.
1. Multiple-word construction – Compound adjectives are created by adding two or more words.
2. Hyphenation- Compound adjectives are hyphenated to make a difference; it is often used, but not always, especially when they come before the noun to change.
3. Adjective function – these combining words perform as a single adjective, to alter the noun. It can be any object, something, or someone.
4. Clarity – hyphen aids to avoid ambiguity and clearly specifies that the words are working as a single unit.
5. Informal usage – in an informal context, when a compound adjective is longer (3+ words), it may be bounded between the quotation marks and not always hyphenated.
6. Functionality – just like regular adjectives, compound words modify the noun, offering a more detailed description.
7. Placement – It usually comes before the noun in order to modify it.
8. Example – Fast-paced, well-known, sun-soaked, happy-go-lucky, absent-minded
These characteristics will assist you in identifying the compound adjective in many formats. But when it comes to use, you must follow the rules for hyphenating adjectives (compound adjective). Explore them in the next section
The compound adjective can become easier to understand if you distinguish and recognise its types. It might have many categories (categories are shared in the next section), but the types of phrasal adjectives are only a few. Therefore, in this section, you are going to explore all the types along with their examples.
1. Hyphenated Compound Adjective
These are the most common types of compound adjective, where two or more words are combined by using a hyphen. It is used before the noun to alter it. Below are the Hyphenated compound adjectives examples. Have a look.
Examples – high-speed, old-fashioned, low-cost, etc.
2. Open Compound Adjectives
This adjective comprises two or more words but not combined through a hyphen and appears before the noun in order to change it. Check out the example of this.
Examples- high school, full-time, real estate, hot water.
3. Closed/ Solid Compound Adjective
These adjectives are created by adding the words into a single word without using any hyphens or spaces.
Examples – Hardworking, blackboard, underestimated, barefoot, etc.
These types can help you to understand the compound adjective more clearly. Below are some common patterns used for creating this adjective.
Common patterns for creating compound adjectives
1. Adjective/Number + Noun: three-hour, twenty-page, long-haired
2. Adjective/Adverb/Noun + Past Participle: sun-dried, well-known, home-grown
3. Adjective/Adverb/Noun + -ing Form: record-breaking, time-saving, eye-catching,
4. Noun + Adjective: world-famous, lemon-fresh, snow-white,
This was all about the types of compound adjectives; now, let’s explore compound adjectives examples through their categories in the next sections.
It is estimated that understanding and using compound adjectives in everyday life is easy, but still, many aspirants face some difficulty. Hyphenation, pluralisation, and understanding when they are needed. In addition, they may forget to use hyphens before nouns or overuse them after the noun. Understanding the rules for hyphenating adjective is crucial so that they use the compound adjective properly in everyday life. Look at the Hyphenated Adjectives rules to gauge the information and right usage.
1. Using a compound adjective before a noun, as it modifies and is usually hyphenated.
2. No hyphen is used in a compound adjective if it is used after a noun.
3. Don’t use Hyphenated Adjectives that consist of an adverb ending with “-ly”
4. Use a hyphen in a compound adjective that includes a unit of measurement or number to make it a singular unit. Such as “a three-hour meeting,"
5. Compound adjectives that have three to four words that have been used before a noun are typically hyphenated.
6. In complex and technical writing, use hyphens to avoid confusion.
7. Must use hyphen with the prefixes when they lead a word, such as "self-", “pre-”, “non-”, "all-", etc
Compound adjectives are formed by two or more words before a noun. To understand this in depth compound adjectives list of examples would be the game changer for you. These compound modifiers are used in both formal and informal settings, but they should be used in the right sentences. To help you out, we are going to share compound adjective examples according to the category in this section. So, have a look.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Adjective + Noun | Cold-hearted person, time-consuming task, |
| Adverb + Past Participle | Well-known actor, closely-guarded secret |
| Noun + Present Participle | Paper-cut injury, dog-loving friend |
| Noun + Noun | Computer science project, mountain bike trail |
| Adjective + Adjective | Dark-haired girl, red-hot iron |
| Number + Noun | Three-story building, ten-member team |
| Color + Noun | Blue-eyed boy, green-colored dress |
| Preposition + Noun | Above-average performance, under-the-radar approach |
| Verb + Noun | Ground-breaking research, running water |
| Temporal | Last-minute decision, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity |
| Size + Noun | Large-scale production, giant-sized pizza |
| Coordinate | Bright, colorful painting; fast and furious race |
Let’s use some of the compound words to create compound adjective examples in a sentence. Have a look below.
1. Creating a macramé is a time-consuming task
2. Shah Rukh Khan is a well-known actor in India
3. Joey is a dog-loving friend
4. We are going on a mountain bike trail on Sunday
5. That red-hot iron was burning
6. My friend was in a ten-member team to play football.
7. I brought a green-colored dress for my brother’s wedding
8. Scientists did ground-breaking research for a space launch.
9. Studying abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students
10. I would like to have a giant-sized pizza for my dinner
11. That was a fast and furious race of cars. I would like to attend another competition.
You have grabbed all the knowledge regarding this adjective; now it’s time to know how much you can sail through with this adjective. Let’s check your learning through the exercises.
After exploring A to Z about the compound adjectives, it’s time to test your knowledge of what you have learned. In this compound adjective exercises, you will get ten questions, and you have to find the compound adjective as well as its category. Also, after completing the exercises, check your response through the answer key.
Exercise: find the compound adjective and its category
1. All my school girls and boys are well-behaved.
2. The criminal in that show seemed to be a cold-blooded man.
3. Gokul works as a part-time coach.
4. Each one of us were able to make it to the top of the 150-feet high mountain.
5. The three-legged, green-eyed monster in the picture show looked really creepy.
6. Since you are a diabetes patient, ensure you eat only sugar-free food.
7. Search out if the widely-known singer would be willing to be our chief guest for the inter-state musical competition.
8. The marriage, its functions, and reception were well-planned.
9. The movie about the life of a doctor in the Middle East countries had a long-lasting effect on the viewers.
10. The ten-hour-long journey was worth of every penny.
Answer Key
1. Well-behaved. (Adverb + Past Participle)
2. Cold-blooded. (Adjective + Past Participle)
3. Part-time. (Adjective + Noun)
4. 100-feet. (Adjective + Noun)
5. Three-legged green-eyed (Adjective + Past Participle, Adjective + Past Participle)
6. Sugar-free. (Noun + Adjective)
7. Widely-known. (Adverb + Past Participle)
8. Well-planned.(Adverb + Past Participle)
9. Long-lasting (Adjective + Present Participle)
10. Ten-hour (Adjective + Noun)
To become proficient, you can solve more compound adjective exercises available on the internet, or you can get them from our experts.
Overall, learning compound adjectives can be as easy as ABC, only when you know the right approach, rules and use a hyphen before the noun. Many learners get confused, but understanding the characteristics would be beneficial for them. Also, these categories may be difficult to understand, but through examples, they can be recognised. Also, you can solve exercises on the compound modifiers to become proficient in using them in everyday life. Additionally, you can get exercises on any part of speech, such as subject, tenses, compound noun, and more at Gradding.com. Experts will guide you to understand them deeply.
1. What is the difference between Compound Adjectives and Compound Nouns?
Answer: The key difference between the compound adjective and compound noun is their grammatical roles within a sentence. Compound adjective performs as an adjective, modifying noun, on the other hand, a compound noun works as noun, such as person, place, idea, or a thing.
2. Does a compound adjective always need a hyphen?
Answer: No, a compound adjective does not always require a hyphen. Although the compound adjective is frequently hyphenated, especially when they are used before the noun, as it adjusts its exceptions. Additionally, when the compound adjective follows the noun or is part of a phrasal verb, it generally doesn’t require a hyphen.
3. What is a compound predicate adjective?
Answer: A compound predicate adjective is a phrase adjective comprising multiple words that adapt and adjust a noun or pronoun and adhere to linking verbs, used to describe the subject. However, these adjectives are not hyphenated when it is used after the linking verb and noun.
4. What punctuation is used when creating compound adjectives?
Answer: Ahyphen (-) is used when creating a compound adjective to connect the words together, especially when it is used before a noun and acts as a single idea. Thus, it helps to avoid confusion between the combined word’s meaning.
5. How Do You Hyphenate a Three-Word Compound Adjective?
Answer: A three-word compound adjective is hyphenated when it is used before a noun to reform it. While reading it may look confusing, as before the noun it acts as a single word, but after the noun it just sounds simple, and no difference is created, like other sentences.
Hyphenated – “He’s a never-before-seen talent”.
Not hyphenated – “Her talent is never before seen”
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