Compound Adjectives

Compound adjectives are used as one single adjective. They function as the head of the sentence. In this lesson, we will learn all about them.

intermediate
What Are Compound Adjectives?

What Are Compound Adjectives?

Compound adjectives are made up of multiple individual words that are used as one single adjective. The words are most commonly connected by a hyphen when used as adjectives.

Compound Adjectives: Function

Like other adjectives, compound adjectives are used to modify nouns and pronouns, and they often appear directly before the word they modify or after a linking verb.

She used old-fashioned dresses to represent the style of the eighteenth century.

They were hard-working.

Compound Adjectives: Structure

Compound adjectives can have different structures, some of the most common ones are:

Noun + Adjective

Sometimes a noun is added before an adjective to form a compound adjective. Check out the examples:

I was seasick during the trip to Venice.

Sometimes if you add a noun to an adjective, a new word is created that can be used as a compound adjective to modify another noun. In this case, the compound adjective is usually hyphenated. For example:

The water is ice-cold.

She had sky-blue eyes.

'seasick' is a compound adjective

Adverb + Past Participle

Adding any adverb to a past participle does not create a compound adjective. A compound adjective should be able to function as a subject complement or be modified by an adverb. If a group of words meets these criteria, then it is a compound adjective. Otherwise, it is another type of phrase. Pay attention to the examples:

Always well-dressed, she opened the door.

This is a compound adjective modified by an adverb.

✓ The model was half-naked.

This is a compound adjective functioning as subject complement.

The almost remarkably beautiful girl.

This is not a compound adjective because it cannot be modified by an adverb

The really three-day trip to Spain.

This is not a compound adjective because it cannot be modified by an adverb

Tip!

Sometimes there is a space between the adverb and the past participle, in which case the phrase is not a compound adjective. Check out the example:

She carefully washed the dishes. → not a compound adjective

Sometimes there is no space between the adverb and the past participle and they function as an adjective, but the adjective is derived from a verb. Thus, in this case too, the words do not form a compound adjective. Here are the examples:

The meat is undercooked. → not a compound adjective

Here, the adjective 'undercooked' is derived from the verb 'undercook', so, it is not a compound adjective.

The city was overpopulated. → not a compound adjective

Here, the adjective overpopulated is derived from the compound verb 'overpopulate.'

Noun + Present Participle

Sometimes adding a noun to a present participle can make a compound adjective which is always hyphenated. Check out the following examples:

The food was really mouth-watering.

His behavior was self-effacing.

Adjective + Past Participle

When you add an adjective to the past participle of a verb, it often creates a compound adjective. It is recommended to use a hyphen between the adjective and past participle to indicate that they function as a single unit modifying the noun or pronoun. Here are a few examples:

The chicken is double-baked.

The high-pitched whistle hurt my ears.

Noun + Past Participle

Sometimes adding a noun to the past participle of the verb can form a compound adjective. Here are a few examples:

Sun-dried tomatoes have an intense sweet-tart flavor.

She's a homegrown pop artist.

Noun + Noun

Sometimes we can create compound adjectives by combining two nouns together:

Bulletproof vests use layers of very strong fibers to deform a bullet.

Punctuation Rules

Compound adjectives are mostly hyphenated. For example:

time-saving methods

paper-thin boxes

mind-blowing event

Some compound adjectives are used with no space in between. They are called closed compound adjectives. Here are the examples:

They were bulletproof jackets.

I was homesick for France.

Adjectives of Compound Verbs

Some adjectives are formed from past participle forms of compound verbs, which are used as adjectives. These adjectives are written as single words, but they are not considered compound adjectives. Here are the examples:

The steak was overcooked.

She was brainwashed.

Compound Adjectives vs. Compound Noun Modifiers

There are two subtle differences between compound adjectives and compound noun modifiers :

  1. Compound adjectives can be used as subject complements while compound noun modifiers cannot
  2. Compound adjectives can also be modified by an adverb while compound noun modifiers cannot

Check out the examples:

He is open-minded. ✓

The Adjective 'open-minded' is used as the subject complement of the sentence; so it is a compound adjective.

Her dad is really open-minded. ✓

In this example, the adverb 'really' is used to describe the adjective open-minded, thus it is a compound adjective.

He is thirty-year-old. ✗

You cannot use 'thirty-year-old' as the subject complement, therefore the phrase is a noun modifier.

He is really thirty-year-old. ✗

The adverb 'really' cannot modify 'thirty-year-old,' so, it is a noun modifier.

Usually, noun modifiers that consist of numbers (post determiners) are hyphenated but are not considered compound adjectives. Here are the examples.

✗ This journey is five-day . → noun modifier

In this example, you cannot use 5-day as a subject complement, so, it is not a compound adjective.

Really five-day journey.

Tip!

Most compound adjectives consist of two words; however, they can consist of more:

Some over-the-counter drugs relieve aches, pains, and itches.

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Participle Adjectives

Participle adjectives are the same form as participles with the same characteristics with adjectives.

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