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Usually, compound adjectives that contain numbers need hyphens. The meat was undercooked, but the broccoli was perfect.She bought an overstuffed ottoman for her living room.When I saw him, he had that “running on empty” look in his eyes.Īnd here are a few closed compound adjectives in sentences:.My sister and I are going to a dub reggae concert at the end of this month.As a new lawyer, you should expect to perform pro bono work.Here are a few examples of open compound adjectives in sentences:
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Certain compound adjectives don’t need hyphens, even if they come before a noun in a sentence. But like most grammar rules, this isn’t always the case. Unlike compound nouns, compound adjectives usually need hyphens. Does a compound adjective always need a hyphen? Any time two (or more!) words become a single term to describe a noun, they’re a compound adjective. Tightly wound, overpopulated, undercookedĪs you can see, compound adjectives are defined by what they do, rather than what they contain. Second-place, nineteenth-century, four-wheelįrench-speaking, mouth-watering, self-effacing We realize that sounds a bit confusing, so this chart should explain it more clearly: Part of Speechįast-talking, Spanish-speaking, backward-facing Not every compound adjective contains two singular adjectives.
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Take a look at these compound adjectives examples: Compound adjectives describe nouns (either regular nouns or compound nouns, for that matter).
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A compound word is any word that’s made up of two or more words, like:īoth of those examples are compound nouns, which are compound words that communicate a specific person, place, thing, or concept. Grammarly helps you communicate with confidence Write with Grammarly What are compound adjectives?Ĭompound adjectives are compound words that act as adjectives.
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