Compound Adjectives
Master compound adjectives to make your descriptions more precise and natural.
- check_circleI can form compound adjectives using numbers, nouns, and participles.
- check_circleI can use hyphens correctly in compound adjectives.
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
Sarah: Hey Mark! Did you enjoy that three-day weekend?
Mark: It was amazing! We stayed at this brand-new hotel in the mountains. It was a bit of a last-minute decision, but totally worth it.
Sarah: Oh, I love spontaneous trips! Was it a long drive?
Mark: Yeah, a five-hour drive, actually. But the scenery was breath-taking.
Sarah: Sounds perfect. Were the rooms nice?
Mark: Absolutely. The staff was incredibly well-mannered and the service was first-class.
Sarah: I guess you get what you pay for. I need a vacation like that. I want a stress-free holiday with my easy-going friends.
Mark: You should definitely go. Just try to book a round-trip ticket in advance to save some money!
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
Compound adjectives are made of two or more words working together to modify a noun. When they come directly before the noun they describe, we usually join them with a hyphen (-).
Number + Noun
When a number and a noun form a compound adjective, the noun is always singular.
- A ten-minute walk (Not:
a ten-minutes walk) - A five-star hotel
- A two-hour movie
Adverb/Adjective + Participle
We often combine adverbs or adjectives with present participles (-ing) or past participles (-ed or irregular).
- A well-known author.
- A good-looking actor.
- She is very open-minded.
Noun + Adjective/Participle
- A world-famous museum.
- A time-consuming process.
Compound adjectives make your English sound much more advanced and natural, especially in professional or academic contexts.
Hyphen Rules
We use a hyphen when the compound adjective comes before the noun. If it comes after the verb (as a predicate adjective), we often omit the hyphen (though for some established words, the hyphen remains).
Common Mistake: Forgetting to make the noun singular in a number-noun combination.
He has a 5-years-old son. → He has a 5-year-old son.
- Number + Noun: Noun must be singular (e.g., a three-day trip).
- Adverb + Participle: Often used for descriptions (e.g., well-paid, hard-working).
- Hyphens: Use a hyphen before a noun (a well-known writer), but often no hyphen after a verb (The writer is well known).
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?