在线英语听力室

Using Hyphens with Compound Nouns

时间:2022-12-30 02:26:24

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Using Hyphens with Compound1 Nouns3

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.

Question:

Hello, my name is Yousra from Egypt.

I would like to know when I should use a hyphen (-) between two words like, "top-selling" or "well-being4."

Thanks.

Answer:

Dear Yousra,

Thank you for your question! In this week's program, we will learn some general rules for creating compound nouns with hyphens.

Review of hyphens

In last week's program, we talked about using hyphens to create a compound adjective5. For example, top-selling, meaning, "having the most sales."

A hyphen (-) is used to combine two or more words together.

What is a compound noun2?

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.

We use hyphens with compound nouns so that the sentence is clear and understandable. Just like compound adjectives6, you can create compound nouns from adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and other nouns.

How to use hyphens to make compound nouns

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.

Every Friday night I love getting take-out from my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant.

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."

There are over 1.5 billion English-speakers in the world!

There are many hunter-gatherer societies today that still depend on the natural environment for food.

3. Always check your dictionary if you are unsure if a compound noun requires a hyphen. There are many exceptions7 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.

Please let us know if these rules, explanations, and examples have helped you, Yousra.

What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at [email protected]

Words in This Story

compound noun– n. (grammar) two or more nouns combined to create a single noun expression.

unit – n. a single thing or a separate part of something larger

societies – n. people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 compound MXEzZ     
n.化合物;大院;adj.化合的;vt.加重;使化合
参考例句:
  • Air is a mixture,not a compound of gases.空气是气体的混合物,不是化合物。
  • How many households in the compound?院内有几家住户?
2 noun JHux3     
n.名词
参考例句:
  • What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词?
  • This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。
3 nouns 8412c0b251e0c60f78bfaf0a44ac3206     
n.名词;名词( noun的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 well-being Fe3zbn     
n.安康,安乐,幸福
参考例句:
  • He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
  • My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福,却被误解为多管闲事。
5 adjective UJpyR     
n.形容词;adj.形容词的,用作形容词的
参考例句:
  • Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
  • The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。
6 adjectives 3e63e25a20ab7d8ada2ada3ea2ad0366     
n.形容词( adjective的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We can form nouns from adjectives. 我们可以用形容词来构成名词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Attributive adjectives precede the noun. 定语形容词位于名词前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 exceptions 19ad27801b95bd1f2c6c2bf83dbb7515     
例外( exception的名词复数 ); 不包括在内的人(或物); 规则的例外; 例外的事物
参考例句:
  • Most children like sweets, but there are some exceptions. 大多数孩子喜欢吃糖果,但也有一些例外。
  • Such exceptions do not invalidate the rule. 这些例外并不证明此规则无效。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。