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Course: French English Spanish Greek
Explanations in: Greek English Spanish French
C1

Compound nouns and compound adjectives

a ten-year-old boy, a two-hour meeting, a coffee cup, a cup of coffee.

English often puts one noun before another to describe it: a bus station, a kitchen table. The first noun works like an adjective.

Compound adjectives with a number

When number + noun describes another noun, use hyphens and keep the noun singular:

  • a ten-year-old boy
    the boy is ten years old
  • a two-hour meeting
    the meeting lasts two hours
  • a five-star hotel
    the hotel has five stars
  • a 20-euro note
    the note is worth 20 euros

's or noun + noun?

Use 's mainly with people and animals (my brother's car) and time expressions (today's newspaper, a week's holiday); use noun + noun for objects and types (the car door, not «the car's door»).

Test yourself

  1. Make a compound adjective: a walk of three kilometres
    Show answer
    a three-kilometre walk
  2. A glass designed for wine is a…?
    Show answer
    wine glass
  3. Correct: a six-months course
    Show answer
    a six-month course
  4. Rewrite with 's: the newspaper from yesterday
    Show answer
    yesterday's newspaper