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Part A. INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale
Nowadays, English plays an important role in international
communication. It is widely used in all fields of life such as: economics,
politics, tourism and international conferences... That’s why teaching and
learning English have become a great demand of many people.
Realizing the importance of English, Vietnamese learners have been
studying English both young and old. To be knowledge about English is
significant in the integration process into WTO.
In order to learn English well and understand it deeply. It is very difficult.
We can not only learn its basic rules of grammar but also study all of its
aspects. And vocabulary is also one part we can not pass over. We must
study many new words and find the new way to formed new words,
especially when the life becomes more complex, many new things are
invented and people need more new words to name these new things. This
is not easy. But by wise knowledge people found some ways to form new
words. Among these ways, the commonest way is compounding.
By compounding, we can form many compound nouns, compound verbs,
compound adverbs, and compound adjectives. However, when
communicating or writing, learners may be confused with using compound
adjectives. Compared with Vietnamese compound adjectives, those who
study on it can find similarities and also differences. The variety and
usefulness of English also attracts learners’ interest in further studying on
compound adjectives.
Thus, I decided to choose “A study on compounds adjective in English”
as the topic for my research with the hope that learners could know more
about the use of compound adjectives in daily life.

II. Methods of study:

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To deal with this topic I carried out my research paper. the methods of this
study are :
- Data collection and analysis.
- Description.
- Generalization.
+Part A is Introduction, which gives out the reason for choosing the
topic of this study, making out the methods and pointing out the scole of
study. And have some the question of study.
+Part B is Content, consisting of three stdudy:
* The first is Definitions of terms: adjective, compound
adjective, characteristic,formation,meaning of compound adjective.
*The second is analysis.This gives kind of compound
adjectives.
*The three is answer the question .
+The part C is Conclusion which gives the summary of all what mentioned
in the study. And list of refernces.

III. Scope of study
This paper focuses on the description and analysing of the formation
of , and characteristic, so on...

IV. Research questions
1.How are compound adjectives in English formed?
2.How can the meaning of compound adjectives be interpreted?

3.Why do we even bother with a hyphen?
4.How can compound adjectives are stressed and presented in writing?

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Part B. CONTENT
I. Definitions of terms
1. Adjective
1.1. Definition
Adjective is a word which denotes a certain characteristic of things such
as quality, colour, age, size, shape. . .
Some examples of adjs are beautiful, nice, shirt (quality), big, small (size),
old,young (age), round,square (shape),blue,yellow,black (color),....
Questions for adjectives can be asked with: “What . . . like?” And,
depending on context, general or precise information can be given:
Ex: What’s Tom like (to look at)? – He’s tall/ short.
What’s the car like? – It’s new/ old/ red.
What’s the car like to drive? – It’s difficult/ fast.
1.2. Characteristics of adjectives
There are some features are generally considered to be characteristic of
adjectives:
1.2.1 Most of adjectives can go in attributive or predicative positions. In
attributive position, they modify the following nouns; in predicative, they
follow linking verbs and function as a subject complement.
1.2.2They can pre modify noun.
Ex: Happy in the happy children.
1.2.3They can freely occur in predicative position, it means they can
function as subject complement .
Ex: Old in the man seemed old.
1.2.4 They can as object complement .
Ex: Ugly in he thought the painting ugly
1.2.Adjectives can be premodified by an intersifier such as very,

extremely...
Ex: The children are very happy
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1.3. the addition of the pre modifiers “more” and “most”.
Ex: These students are more intelligent.
They are the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen.

2.Compounding:
Compounding is a very common word-formation process in English.
There are many definitions for compounding:
+ Jespersen, (1974) said “Compounds are combinations of two or more
words that function as one word and a single”
+ Bauer (1983/2010) said “When two (or more) elements which could
potentially be used as stems are combined to form another stem, the form is
said to be a compound. A compound lexeme (or simply a compound) can
thus be defined as a lexeme containing two or more potential stems.Since
each potential stem contains at least one root, a compound must contain at
least two roots.”.
+ Plag (2002) said that “ ... a compound is a word that consists of two
elements, the first of which is either a root, a word, a phrase, the second of
which is either a root or a word.”

3. Adjective compounds
A compound adjective is a single adjective comprising more than one
word. The words in a compound adjective are usually grouped together
using hyphens. For example: man made, good – looking, habit - forming,
happy – go – lucky, deaf – mute, blame worthy, record – breaking, a
never-ending story,

4.Formation of compound adjectives:
There are many ways in which words can be combined to form
compound adjectives. In this study, formation of adjectives is presented in
the order of the central element: Adjective-centred, Noun-centred., Verbcentred, Adverb-centred, Phrasal.
• Compound nouns in attributive position
These are very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily:
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This is the summary table:
a) Compound Adjective whose right-hand constituent is present
participle( CA+ing participle)
Left-hand constituent

Right-hand

Examples

constituent
Noun

sun bathing
present participle

Adjective

Mouth - watering
good looking

Adverb

Cold - blooded
well-heeled,

Hard - boiled
b) Compound Adjectives whose right-hand constituent is past participle:
(CA+ed-participle)
Left-hand constituent

Right-hand

Examples

constituent
Noun

moss-covered,
Past participle

Adjective
Adverb

well-known
well done

c) Compound Adjectives whose right-hand constituent is an
adjective(CA+adj)
Left-hand constituent

Right-hand

Examples

constituent
Noun

snow-white,
Adjective

Adjective

Safety - conscious
blue-black, Deaf –

mute
Adverb
never-defeated
Numberal+noun
10-month-old.
*Notes: Don’t use -s at the end of compound adjectives with numbers:
Ex : Let’s take a ten-minutes break.
Let’s take a ten-minute break.

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d) Compound Adjectives whose right-hand constituent is an adjective
derived from a noun(CA+N+ed)
Left-hand constituent

Right-hand

Example

constituent
Noun
Adjective

adjective derived from

goat-headed
dead-eyed,

Kind - hearted
Adverb
well-heeled
e) Compound adjectives whose right-hand constituent is a noun(CA+N)
a noun( adj+N+ed)

Left-hand constituent

Right-hand

Example

constituent
Noun
love-hate
Adjectieve

fast-track, Red - letter
noun
Numeral
11-day
f) Compound Adjectives containg particles(CA+particle)
Left-hand constituent

Right-hand

Example

Particle
Particle
Verb
Particle

constituent
Present participle
Past participle
Particle
noun

over whelming
outstanding
pop-up
at-risk

5.Meaning of compound adjectives:
In contrast to the meanings of those individual words, the words will
convey different meanings. Use a dictionary to learn the meaning of these

words. These words may convey more than one meaning., adjectives
change the meaning of a noun or pronoun by giving more information
about it. compounds can be written as one word, two separate words or
they can be hyphenated. The compounds that are used more often tend to
appear in one word. Those that combine occasionally but keep their
individual meaning tend to use a hyphen. And those that come in two
words keep their independent identity.
But British and American English don't always use the hyphens in the
same word combinations, so, when in doubt, check a good dictionary!

6.Hyphens
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1.definition
A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark used to join the separate parts of a
compound word.
Ex :well-oiled ,6-foot ,cooking-oil,ex-President,..

II: Analysis
1. Compound Adjective whose right-hand constituent is
present participle:
It is put together between noun or adjective or adverb (left hand
constituent) and present participle ( right hand constituent).
1.1 Noun + present participle
Ex: Habit – forming = causing addiction.
Earsplitting = intolerably loud or shrill
Bloodcurldling = arousing fright.Sun bathing,time consuming
news,grass-eating, mouth – watering,record – breaking ,labour – saving ,...
The nouns: “sun,time, blood,labour,habit,record” Like a modifier of

“present participle”
1.2 Adjective + present participle
Ex: Good – looking = handsome, of a pleasing or attractive appearance
Far – seeing = seeing distant things best.
Far – reaching = having wide application or influence.
Free - standing = standing or operating independently of anything
else.
The adjective: “good.easy,a free,,far.” Like a modifier of “present
participle”
1.3 Adverb + present participle
Ex: Hard - wearing = hard to beat
Ever – lasting = enduring forever
Ever – increasing = continuing to increase
Long – lasting = lasting in a long time
Never – ending = not being stopped
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The adverb: “hard,‚ever,quickly,never,long”like a modifier of “present
participle”

2. Compound Adjectives whose right-hand constituent is past
participle:
It is put together between noun or adjective or adverb (left hand
constituent) and past participle ( right hand constituent).
2.1 Noun + past participle:
Ex :handmade, moss-covered, lion-hearted, heartbroken, homegrown ,
heart-warming.
The noun: “hand,moss lion,heart,home” ” Like a modifier of “past
participle”

2.2 Adjective + past participle
Ex: well-known,well behave,well meant,out spoken,new-laid, serious –
minded,new – made,low – keyed,ready – made,cold – blooded,high flown...
The adjective ‚serious”, “new”, “low”, “ready”, “cold‛ ” Like a modifier
of “past participle”
2.3 Adverb + past participle
Ex: well done,well-know,well-lit, deeply – rooted,well – behaved, brightly
– lit, well – educated,densely – populated,hard - boiled...
The adverb: “well, deeply,bright,densely,hard” Like a modifier of “past
participle”

3 Compound Adjectives whose right-hand constituent is an
adjective:
It is put together between noun or adjective or adverb or numberal+ noun
(left hand constituent) and adjective ( right hand constituent).
3.1 Noun + adjective
Ex :snow-white,knee-deep ,pitch-dark world-wide,noteworthy ,diet
conscious ,machine – readable,pollution - free,ice – free,blame worthy,
safety - conscious...
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3.2 Adjective + adjective
Adjective+ adjective is common.
Ex : blue-black , white-hot ,red-hot ,dark-brown , worldly-wise,...
3.3 Adverb + adjective
Ex :never-defeated ,outspoken,well-built , everlasting , well-educated, illbred = ill-educated, newly-lit = newly-born,...
3.4 Numeral + noun + adjective
Numbers combine with nouns (usually singular) to form compound
adjectives relating to time, measurement,...

Ex:
-Age: a three – year – old building ,a twenty – year – old men ,...
- Area / home: a three – acre plot, a two – litre car,..
- Length / depth: a twelve – inch ruler, a six – foot hole,...
- Price: a $50 dress, a $ 90000 house ,...
- Time / distance: a ten – minute walk, a three – hour journey,...
- Weight: a ten – stone man, a give – kilo bag of flour,...
However, compound adjective also is formed : A + numberal + noun -ed
Ex: A one – layered disk ,A three – headed monster, A three – legged
stool ,A three – legged stool
→When we use a part of a body as part of an adjective, we add –ed after
noun

4.Compound Adjectives whose right-hand constituent is an
adjective derived from a noun:
It is put together between noun or adjective or adverb (left hand
constituent) and an adjective derived from a noun ( right hand constituent).
4.1 Noun + adjective derived from a noun
This group consists of compounds in which the adjective is derived
from noun stem by the means of adding the adjective suffix –ed.
These include compounds whose right-hand element is -based, -headed,
-laced, -shaped, -themed, -sized, -cobbled and -fashioned. .
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Ex: goat-headed,...
4.2 Adjective + adjective derived from a noun
In the adjective + adjective dervived from a noun ( adjective + noun –
ed). structures, the adjective behaves similarly to a modifier of the Noun.
Ex: dead-eyed ,empty-handed, goat-headed, long-haired, open-ended

,open-minded…
4.3 Adverb + adjective derived from a noun
Ex: well-heeled,...

5 Compound adjectives whose right-hand constituent is a
noun
It is put together between noun or adjective or adverb (left hand
constituent) and noun ( right hand constituent).
5.1 Noun + noun
There are two types of noun + noun compound adjectives. In the first
type, the modifierhead distinction is possible, such as space-age, worldclass, lifestyle, lifestyle ,resort-style,U.S.-Mexico ...
The second type consists of compounds such as Asia-Pacific, lovehate,self-service ,space-age,...
5.2 Adjective + noun.
Ex fast-track,high-end, high profile,high-tech,large-scale,low-fat ,long-term
,military-style,modern-day ,top-tier ...
5.3 Numeral + noun
Ex: 400,000-brick, 11-day, 22-member,...

6 Compound Adjectives containg particles
It is containing particles.Particles can left hand constituent or right hand
consituent
6.1 Particle + present participle
Ex: on going, over whelming, out standing,...
6.2 Particle + past participle
Ex : outstanding,...
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6.3 Verb + particle
Ex : add-on, pop-up, trade-in,...

6.4 Particle + noun :
Ex: at-risk, underwater,...

III: Answers the question
1. How to discriminate between free word groups and
compound adjectives?
English compound adjectives are generally composed of free word
group .It may be sometimes difficult to decide whether a particular
structure should be. We can recognize some criteria for the identification :
+ Spelling: we can rely on the spelling of a word group to discriminate
between free word groups and compounds. If two words are written with
no space between them, or possibly with an intervening hyphen, they form
a compound.
For example: Round about, water logged, clear headed, happy-go-lucky,
blow-by-blow, wall-to-wall, ...
In contrast, if it has no hyphen or with separation, it is phrase.
+ Semantic : Generally, compounds are believed to be more specialised in
meaning than free word group (phrase).Jespersen (1974) said that "we have
a compound if the meaning of the whole cannot be logically deduced from
the meaning of the elements separately" .
+ Syntactic :There are several syntactic criteria that are used by scholars
for delimitating compounds from free word group.
-First, it is the uninterruptability of a compound. The uninterruptability
criterion means that it is impossible to divide a compound by minserting
other elements between its constituents.
-Secondly, compounds should be inflected as a whole, ... The
inflectional
morphemes should be attached to the right-hand constituent .
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2.Confusion in applying hyphen to connect compound
adjectives ?
There are some following cases we must add hyphenation:
*One way to decide if a hyphen is necessary is to see if the phrase might be
ambiguous without it.
For example: "large-print paper" might be unclear written as "large print
paper" because the reader might combine "print" and "paper" as a single
idea rather than combining "large" and "print." Another such example is
"English-language learners." Without the hyphen, a reader might think we
are talking about English people who are learning any language rather than
people who are learners of the English language.
(1) When compound adjectives formed with high or low are generally
hyphenated:
Ex: High – level discussion ,high – quality programming ,low – price
mark – up, Low – budget films,..
(2)Compound adjectives which formed with an adverb plus an adjective or
a participle are often hyphenated when they occur before the noun they
modify:
Ex : A well – known actor, an ill – advised move, best – loved poems, a
much – improved situation, the so – called cure,...
(3) Compound adjectives formed with an adverb or a noun and a past
participle are always hyphenated when they precede the noun they modify:
Ex: well – kept secret, above – mentioned reason, helium – filled
balloons, snow – capped mountains,...
-Many compound this type have become permanent and are therefore
hyphenated whether they precede or follow the noun they modify:
Ex : A well – worn shirt,his shirt was well – worn,the tongue – tied
winner, she remained tongue – tied,...

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(4) hyphenate compound adjectives formed with an adjective and a noun to
which -d or -ed has been added: Yellow- eyed cat , Many – tied
cake...Many of these compounds have become permanent hyphenated:
Ex : Middle – aged, old – fashioned,..
(5) Compound adjectives formed with a noun, adjective, or adverb and a
present participle are hyphenated when the compound precedes the noun it
modifies:
Ex: Two good- looking sons,...
(6) Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and adjective compound with
a numerical first element are hyphenated:
Ex: 13- piece band, 19-century novel, decades -old newspapers, sixsided polygon, ten -thousand -year -old bone,...
(7)Compound colour adjectives are hyphenated.Color compounds whose
first element ends in “-ish” are hyphenated when they precede the noun
* note: should not be hyphenated when they follow the noun:
Ex:A darkish,blue color, A reddish- gold sunset,...
(8) If you can use the word “and” between the two adjectives or words,
then a hyphen isn't necessary.
-Do not use a hyphen unless it serves a purpose. If a compound
adjective cannot be misread or, as with many psychological terms, its
meaning is established, a hyphen is not necessary.
Ex : She has a big-blue book. => She has a big and blue book.

3.Why do we even bother with a hyphen?
To avoid confusion. When we join an adjective to a noun to create a
compound adjective, without a hyphen the reader isn’t sure what is
describing (modifying) what. A tall tree stump indicates that the stump is
from a tall tree, but if you are writing about the tall stump of a tree, a talltree stump tells people that the stump was tall. The hyphen makes that

clear.

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4.What is the difficult compound adjective when to learn
English?
The main difficulty a learner comes across is how to classify compound
adjectives according to some practical ways. In this chapter, I would like to
give some consideration:
4.1. Trouble in stressed syllable of compound adjectives
Many words may be spelled in all three ways: the closed form,
hyphenated form, open form. In other words, hyphenated for the same
compound adjectives:
For example: manmade =man- made
Earsplitting= ear-splitting
We are often confused because of the various ways of spelling of many
compound adjectives.
4.2.Some adjective follow the noun they modify
A postpositive adjective is an adjective that appears after the noun that it
modifies. Why do they follow these nouns? Sometimes it is imperative for
them to follow the nouns they modify.
Ex: there's a difference between "proper reptiles" and "reptiles proper".
Adjectives may even change meaning depending on whether they precede
or follow, as in proper
They live in a proper town (a real town, not a village)
They live in the town proper (in the town itself, not in the suburbs)
That's why they are sometimes used after the nouns proper.
4.3. Spelling errors when writing these words.
Some words in English by two different syllables from a

form, so we too often make spelling errors when writing these words.
Spelling error: +the distance between two words.Ex:bed room, bath room,
good night, on line=> Wrong
- How to write correctly: bedroom, bathroom, goodnight, online. (no space
between the two words).
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+Using wrong the structure :
Ex: a nicely-looking jacket => wrong
How to write correctly : a nice-looking jacket (adjective+ participle).
-a new-married couple => wrong
How to write correctly : a newly-married couple (adverb + partiple).
+: Don’t use “-s” at the end of compound adjectives with numbers:
Ex : Let’s take a ten-minutes break.
Let’s take a ten-minute break.

Part C: Conclusion
English is important role in communication. English is used in fields of
life and it makes the relations among countries closer. English is also
considered the most widely used language in the world. In order to learn
English better, learners but also not help studying all aspect in English
vocabulary in general not only studying compound adjectives in particular.
From that learners can improve their English. i just finish really hope that
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my study, to some extent, will help readers who want to learn more about
English grammar, especially compound adjectives . And they can find
useful way to use compound adjectives in writing, communicating.

Besides, I also point out some difficulties which other learners may also get
and I give some solutions to overcome., in my study, I only mention some
main fields as concerned about. My graduation paper ‚A study on
compound adjectives in English‛ includes three chapters.
I hope that that study will help you a lot .We can understand more about
compound adjectives, will help readers who want to learn more about
English grammar.

List of References
1. Alexander, L.G. (1992) Longman English Grammar. London and
Newyork.
2. Alexander, L.G. (1992) Longman English Grammar practice. London
and Newyork.
3. />4. />16


5. Adams, Valerie. An Introduction to Modern English Word-formation.
London:
Longman, 1973.
6.Bauer, Laurie. English Word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983.
7. Tuten, Nancy. Get it Write.“ Compound Words: When to
Hyphenate“ 27Apr.2003.
8. />9. />the_type_lion-hearted_and_good-natured

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