Compound Words | Complete Guide With It's Types and Examples

You might struggle to understand compound words, like a snowball, which acquired a new unified meaning. This blog will help you to get a better understanding. Compound words are made when two smaller words are put together to create a new word with its own meaning.

We will discuss what are compound words, their types, lists, and the difference between simple and compound words. If it is hard for you to figure out which part of a compound word holds the primary meaning. You can go through this blog to expand your knowledge. What are you waiting for? Scroll below to know more.

What are Compound words?

Compound words are those words made up by combining two or more independent words, each with its meaning. When these words come together, they create a new word with a different meaning. Instead of saying many things, compound words help you express ideas with just one simple word.

For example:

• Tooth + Brush = Toothbrush
• Sun + Flower = Sunflower

There are three types of compound words: closed compound words, open compound words and hyphenated compound words. Are you also finding it difficult to identify the types of compound words? In the next section, we will discuss different types of compound words. Let's not waste any more time, dive straight to the answers.

Open compound words

Open compound words are written as separate words, but they are a combination of more words that work together to form a specific meaning. It always acts like single words, but there is still a space between them. Even though the words are separated, they work together to define a single concept. Let’s have a look at some examples of open compound words to help you get a better understanding.

For example:

• Living room: It is two words, but it’s understood as one thing: a room.
• High school: It refers to a school for students in grades 9-12.

While making an open compound word plural, you usually pluralize only the first word in the group, not all the words. Open compound words are common in everyday language. Moreover, it helps you to easily understand things by combining simple words. Next, we will discuss hyphenated compound words. With any further delay, read the below section.

Hyphenated Compound Words

Hyphenated compound words use a hyphen to join two parts together. They are used to display that the two words are connected but not combined into one. You can use these compound words when combining the words might be confusing. However, they are noun phrases used as adjectives or as verbs. Now, let’s see some examples of hyphenated compound words.

For example:

• Mother-in-law
• High-speed

Unlike open compound words, it’s not always the final word that changes. When hyphenated compound nouns are pluralized, you change the right part of the word, not always the last one. Let’s move forward to learn about closed compound words. Scroll below to read more.

Closed Compound Words

Closed compound words are typically made by combining two separate words to create a new one. It does not have spaces between the words they are made of, so it will appear as one word put together. Moreover, it shows how language can grow and change as we come up with new ways to share our ideas. Below are some examples of the mentioned closed compound words.

For example:

• Key + board becomes a keyboard
• Basket + ball becomes a basketball

These words are like building blocks of language. Also, makes it easier and faster for you to describe things. While writing your assignment on compound words, if you still face any issues, seek cheap assignment help for effortless results.

So, these were the three types of compound words. Now, it's time to look through the list of compound words. Below is the list mentioned.

List of Compound Words

This list of compound words includes closed, open, and hyphenated compound words. You can use this to get a better grasp of compound words, expand your vocabulary, or practice spelling. Now we will see step-by-step examples of all three types of compound words.

Examples of open compound words:

Examples of closed compound words:

Examples of hyphenated compound words:

The list of compound words we have provided you above will help you recognize spelling patterns and improve your overall spelling. With this, you can also construct your own compound words, which will boost your creativity and language skills. However, while you are working on your essay you feel stuck. In this case, you can get assistance from tools like essay typer. Your essay will get ready in no time.

Difference Between Simple and Compound Words

As a student, you might often get confused while distinguishing between simple words and compound words. Simple words refer to basic words that cannot be divided into smaller meaning units, whereas compound words are formed by combining two or more words to produce a new word with a different meaning. All your concerns will be clarified in the following section. We will discuss the differentiation between simple and compound words. Scroll down to explore further.

So the above-mentioned table will help you get a clear idea of the difference between simple and compound words. If you still have any doubt left while you are writing your essay on compound words, seek essay writing services. In no time, your essay will be prepared.

Conclusion

Well, as you know understanding compound words is a crucial part of language learning. In this blog we have discussed what compound words are, their types, the list of compound words and the difference between simple & compound words. With this, you can express yourself more clearly and precisely in academic writing. However, sometimes it is difficult to break down more complex compounds into their simpler parts. In this case, experts at Global Assignment Help not only break down complex compound words into simple parts but also help you grasp the concept quickly.

Frequently Asked Question

1.What are Compound Words and Examples?

Compound words happen when two or more words join together to create a new word with a unique meaning. For example: Ice cream, firefighter, up-to-date, etc.

2.How do compound words function?

Compound words function as a single unit. So, when you conjugate compound verbs or make compound nouns plural, you only change the grammar once.

3.What are 7 Closed Compound Words?

Some examples of closed compound words are:

Cheeseburger, Milkshake, Breakfast, grapefruit, soybean, buttermilk and cupcake.

4.What are Three Types of Compound Words?

The three types of compound words are:

• Open compound words: there are spaces between the words
• Closed compound words: there are no spaces between the words
• Hyphenated compound words: there are hyphens between the words