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Compund Adjectives

 Compund Adjectives

30/10/2008
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This lesson is part of unit 2 " Cultural issues and values"

I-Inroduction

 Compound adjectives refer to adjectives which are made of " composed of" two words or more and are separeted by a hyphen "-" like in :

E.g: 1-He writes and eats with his left hand. So, he is left- handed.

2- This boy looks cute. He is a good-looking boy.

   In thefirst examlpe we used the word "left" and the form of past participle "handed" to make the compound adjective.

Similarly, in the second example we made use of the adjective « good » and the present participle for « looking ».

II-Rules:

There are basically two ways or patterns to form a compound adjective according to what we have in the original sentence:

A--adjective / adverb + past participle

Adjective or adverb plus past participle is one of the most common patterns for forming compound adjectives. Some common examples would include:

cold-blooded kind-hearted old-fashioned open-minded
brightly-lit deeply-rooted densely-populated well-behaved

  • Most animals are warm-blooded but all reptiles are cold-blooded.

*It means : All animals have warm(≠ cold or hot) blood but all reptiles have cold blood.

  • He was a cold-blooded murderer and showed no emotion of any kind.

  • She lived in an old-fashioned house, but was kind-hearted and open-minded.

  • Nevertheless, she held deeply-rooted beliefs about the sanctity of marriage.

  • The dimly- / brightly-lit streets in our town encourage / discourage burglars.

B--Adjective / adverb / noun + present participle

Here are some common examples:

good-looking hard-wearing free-standing (Adj+Verbing)
far-reaching long-lasting never-ending (Adv+Verbing)
labour-saving mouth-watering record-breaking (Noun+Verbing)

  • The good-looking chef( cute) was dressed in hard-wearing clothing and sitting in front of a free-standing cooker.

  • The dishes he had prepared with all the labour-saving devices at his disposal were all mouth-watering (= delicious)

  • We signed a long-lasting agreement for his services which we hoped would be never-ending.

Other common patterns for compound adjectives include:

  • noun + past participle: shop-soiled, tongue-tied, sun-dried,
  • noun + adjective: trouble-free, lead-free, world-famous,
  • adj + noun: deep-sea, full-length, last-minute,
  • number + noun: two-door, twenty-page, forty-mile.
  • When they refused to exchange the shop-soiled item, I was tongue-tied and didn't know what to say.

  • If you want trouble-free motoring, make sure you use only lead-free petrol.

  • The sun-dried tomatoes that we sell are world-famous.

  • She was wearing a full-length dress, quite unsuitable for deep-sea diving.

  • The forty-mile journey in the two-door, open-top convertible was ill-advised in such inclement weather.
  • It is very important to mention that we don't put an "s" for the plural becuase the adjectives in English never agree with their subjects, unlike French or Arabic.

Eg: I read a book which contains 100 pages  → I read a 100-page book.

Take these more examples:

2) Forty-mile= Having forty miles distance

3) Four-Stroke = having four stroke

4) One-Eyed = having only one eye.

5) One-layered disk = Disk having single(=one) layer

6) Single-Handed job = A job done by one person

7) Six-and-a-half-year-old child =A child who is six and half years old.


8) Six-Sided = having six sides

9) Sixteen-week semester = Duration of Semester

10) Three-legged stool = Stool having three legs

11) Three-storey house = House having three floors

12) Twenty-Page = Having twenty page

13) Two-bedroom flat= A flat having two bedrooms.

14) Two-car garage = Garage for parking two cars

15) Two-Stroke = engine having two strokes

16) Two-Door = Having two doors

17) Sweetheart = a person whom another loves

PLACE + NOUN/ADJECTIVE

1) Farm-fresh = Fresh from farms

2) Indian Bazaar = a specific place or market wherein you will find Indian shops, restaurants.

3) housewife = a married woman devoted to work for her family and attends all house hold activities at home

4) home-made = prepared at home, not bought from a shop

 

 

Exercises

Match the numbers with the letters to make meaningful sentences.

1. Organ donors perform a. a long-winded man.
2. After a day in the sun I crave b. a six-sided die.
3. The long speech was given by c. a sure-footed animal.
4. Yahtzee is a game played with d. a tight-fisted woman.
5. The mountain goat is e. an ice-cold lemonade.
6. Don't go the wrong way down f. a five-page book report.
7. The manager of the bank is g. a ten-dollar bill.
8. My homework for tomorrow is h. a life-giving service.
9. My friend Scott lent me

i. a three-hour movie.

10. The theatre is showing

j. a one-way street.


Click on the following links for more exercises:

 1- http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-11843.php

2- http://www.englishmedialab.com/Quizzes/advanced/compound%20adjectives%20match.htm

 

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