Compound adjectives and noun phrases
A ten-minute walk, a five-year-old girl, a well-known writer, a shoe shop: building longer noun phrases.
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A noun phrase is a noun with the words that describe it. Information can go before the noun (a cheap two-bedroom flat) or after it (a flat near the station). Before the noun, English often joins two or more words with a hyphen to make one compound adjective: a ten-minute walk, a well-known writer. These are shorter than a relative clause and very common in writing.
Before the noun | The noun | After the noun |
|---|---|---|
a cheap two-bedroom | flat | near the station |
the well-known | writer | who lives next door |
a ten-minute | walk | from here |
Number + noun: a ten-minute walk
A number and a noun can describe another noun. Join them with a hyphen, and keep the noun singular, as an adjective has no plural.
- It's a ten-minute walk from the station.
- We had a two-hour meeting this morning.
- She has a five-year-old daughter.
- Incorrect: It's a ten-minutes walk from here.
- Correct: It's a ten-minute walk from here.Before a noun, minute stays singular: ten-minute.
- Incorrect: He's got a three-years-old son.
- Correct: He's got a three-year-old son.
After the verb, the noun is plural again and there is no hyphen: The walk takes ten minutes. My daughter is five years old. British English can also say It's ten minutes' walk from here, with the apostrophe of a possessive.
Compound adjectives with a participle
Many compound adjectives have a past participle (well-known, well-paid, well-dressed) or an -ing form (good-looking, hard-working, English-speaking, time-consuming). With an adverb in -ly, there is usually no hyphen: a badly paid job.
- She's a well-known writer.
- He has a well-paid job in a bank.
- Our new neighbours are very good-looking.
- Filling in these forms is very time-consuming.
The hyphen is most important before a noun. After a verb, well known and well paid are often written without one: The writer is well known in France. Dictionaries and writers don't always agree, so both are seen.
Adjective + noun + -ed
Another group joins an adjective and a noun with -ed, usually for people's looks and character.
- a blue-eyed baby, a long-haired cat, a left-handed player
- He's very open-minded about new ideas.
- My grandfather was very absent-minded.
(He often forgot things.)
Noun + noun
A noun can describe another noun with no hyphen: a bus stop, a city centre, a car door. The first noun works like an adjective, so it is usually singular, and the main noun comes last.
- Is there a shoe shop near here?
- I left my keys on the kitchen table.
- Incorrect: Is there a shoes shop near here?
- Correct: Is there a shoe shop near here?The first noun is usually singular, like an adjective.
A few common ones keep a plural first noun: a clothes shop, a sports car, the sales department.
Noun + noun is common for things we use together and talk about often. With other ideas, of is often better: the end of the film, the top of the page, not the film end or the page top.
After the noun: the woman in the red coat
Information after the noun can be a phrase with a preposition, an -ing or past participle form, or a relative clause.
- the woman in the red coat
- a house with a big garden
- people living near the airport
(people who live near the airport)
- the plans discussed at the meeting
(the plans that were discussed at the meeting)
- the book that I told you about
Putting it together
Long noun phrases are common in news and in writing at work. To read one, find the main noun first, then look at what comes before and after it.
- A new twenty-storey office building near the river will open next year.
(The main noun is building.)
- We are looking for an experienced English-speaking tour guide with a driving licence.
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Where this rule sits
All B2 rulesNouns and articles: all rules