Compound adjectives

By :EL AYAR MHAMED

1) Definition

Compound adjectives “consist of two words normally separated by a hyphen. The

second element is usually a present participle (-ing) or past participle (-ed or irregular).

e.g: hand-made/ well-dressed/ good-looking”

2) The patterns of compound adjectives:

A. [ adjective + noun + past participle (-ed or irregular)]

a) My mother has a kind heart → my mother is a kind-hearted

b) He wrote with the left hand → he is a left-handed

c) A girl with brown eyes → a brown-eyed girl

d) A man with long hair → a long-haired man

B. [ adjective + verb + ing (present participle)]

a) He looks good → he is good-looking

b) A person who looks good → a good-looking person

C. [ noun + verb + ing ]

a) Qatar produces oil → Qatar is an oil-producing country

b) Tiger that eats men →a man-eating tiger

c) A country where people speak English → an English-speaking country.

d) People speak Arabic in Morocco → Morocco is an Arabic-speaking country

e) Tafilalet is a region that produces dates → Tafilalet is a date-producing region

D. [adverb + verb +ing]

a) This student works hard → he is a hard-working student

b) This story never ends → it is a never-ending story

E. [ adverb + past participle]

a) We have brightly-lit streets / we have brightly-coloured dresses

b) The meal was cooked well → it was a well-cooked meal

F. [compound adjectives with numbers]

a) Their daughter is five years old → they have a five-year-old daughter.

b) He lent me a bill of seven dollars → he lent me a seven-dollar bill

NB: don’t add “s” of plural to the compound adjectives, but add it only to the noun that comes after

them
Compound Adjectives

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 Practice:

1. Make compound adjective out of the underlined phrases:

a) John has got blue eyes → John is a ....................... boy

b) Our school forms athletes → it is an..................... school

c) The meal was cooked well →it was a ................. meal

d) Her father has a very narrow mind → she has a very ...................... father

e) I have a plant that eats meat → I have a ................... plant

f) Models must have long legs →Models are ...............women

g) My mother makes all my clothes by hand →I wear ………….......... clothes

h) People know this writer very well→he is a .............writer

i) My nephew Stuart is a serious boy. He works hard →he is a ................ student

j) This cottage is covered with snow →it’s a ............... cottage

k) He is a boy with dark hair → he is a ............................. boy

2. fill in the gaps with the appropriate compound adjectives:

Red-handed/ absent-minded/ well-informed/ open-minded/ tight-fisted

a) The criminal was caught…………..he was seen stealing the young lady’s hand bag

b) People should be tolerant towards other cultures. They should be…………………….

c) Sarah couldn't answer the teacher’s question because she was…………………………

d) Don’t expect him to invite you for dinner. He is…………………………………………………..

e) To be a translator you need to be…………………………..about linguistics

3. match the words in column A with the words in column B to make correct compound

adjectives:

Column A Column B
1 Broad
2 Cold
3 Warm A witted
4 Narrow B consuming
5 Oil C headed
6 Absent D breaking
7 Two E eyed
8 Strong F faced
9 Open G producing
10 Crossed H Blooded
11 Record I Minded
12 Big
13 Time

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