Compound adjectives

In English, some adjectives can consist of two or more words. These are compound adjectives. Compound adjectives are usually written with hyphens when they are used in front of a noun they modify. For example, in the phrase ‘man-eating lion’, ‘man-eating’ is a compound adjective. ‘man eating lion’ means something different. As you can see, a hyphen changes the meaning of a phrase.

Here are some examples of compound adjectives:

• She has a well-behaved child.
• He is a good-looking young man.
• It’s a sugar-free chewing gum.
• They are long-distance lorry drivers.

If a compound noun comes after the noun, it can drop the hyphen.

• a well-balanced diet
• The team was very well balanced.

Compound adjectives can be formed with periods of time.

• We’ll take a ten-minute break.
• There has been a two-hour delay.
• I was on a two-year contract.

We don’t add a plural ending to the compound adjectives with periods of time.

• We’re going on a six-days trip.
• … a six-day trip

Other common types are:

Adjective	+	Past participle	old-fashioned
			narrow-minded
			dark-haired
Adjective	+	Present participle	good-looking
			long-running
			easy-going
Adverb	+	Past participle	well-established
			brightly-coloured
			densely-populated
Noun	+	Past participle	sun-baked
			wind-blown
			water-cooled
Noun	+	Present participle	eye-catching
			mouth-watering
			money-saving
Noun	+	Adjective	world-famous
			sugar-free
			book-smart