This is an All Ears English Podcast, episode 2373, grammar answers to a well written question.
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Today, we answer a question from our listener, Sophia.
She asks how we can form a compound adjective and where to place the hyphen.
Plus, can you make up your own?
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Hello Michelle. How's everything going today?
Everything is good.
How are you? Good. What's up.
What's shaking? Not too much Lindsay.
Who do you think is the most well known celebrity in the world?
Oh my gosh, that's a great question.
I mean, who comes to mind is someone like Denzel Washington, or Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie.
I don't know. What do you think?
What comes to mind when you think about that?
When I think about that, I think Michael Jackson.
Oh, OK. Yeah. But but I mean, Taylor Swift is probably I would say Taylor Swift is also up there.
I would have said someone like Paul McCartney, but not so much anymore because for getting older.
Yeah, things are changing.
That was the Beatles had their day.
But people still love the Beatles.
Don't get me wrong, right?
but I think young kids, darling, the young generation, they might not even know them unless their parents are listening.
Like I used to listen to Cremes Clearwater Revival with my parents.
And that was from their generation, that music.
Right? But your parents have to really be into music and be willing to listen to it around you and that kind of thing.
Definitely. Yeah. So today we are not talking about celebrities, but we are talking about compound adjectives to very separate.
Oh, darn it. Don't worry, we're going to have fun.
So this is because well known is a compound adjective.
You have a hyphen between well known.
So we're going to be getting into this.
Getting getting into the mud here getting into the weeds, but we can do it.
But before we before we get started, we want to remind you to hit follow wherever you're listening to all ears English so you never miss anything from us.
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All right. So Lindsay, this question was from Youtube and it's from our wonderful listener, Sophia, who sent us several amazing questions, so we're going to get into one of them today.
I am so excited. Sophia has been sending some great questions, so keep them coming.
And everyone, send your questions to support at allearsenglish .com.
We'll make sure your question gets on our list.
All right. Okay. All right.
Here it is, Michelle.
Hey, I'm Sophia. I really enjoy your podcast.
It's one of my morning routines.
There you go. The morning routine.
Thank you so much for your enthusiastic energy that kickstarts my day.
I have a question. Could you explain the rules for forming compound adjectives?
Specifically, when do you need to use a hyphen between words, like in well -known or high pitched?
And once you follow the rules, can you create your own compound adjectives?
Or is there a limit to how creative you can get while still following the guidelines?
Thank you for your answer.
Oh my gosh amazing question.
Yes, this is a very good specific question.
We love it. We're gonna get into it.
Thank you, Sophia, before we get into it, we want to share some results from a Spotify poll.
We did. This was from episode twenty three forty one drama free English learning.
So, guys, if you haven't listened to that one, go ahead and listen to it.
The question was what's your confrontation style?
And it was non -confrontational.
Pick your battles or thrive on drama.
Lindsay, would you like to share the results?
Yeah, this is so cool, because this gives us a chance to really get to know the personalities of our listeners, right?
The typical all -ears English listener.
Well, the good news is we have a split, right?
It's quite an even, relatively even split here.
So 40 % of you are non -confrontational, 38 % of you are pick your battles.
So you choose to pick your battles, right?
Love that. And then 20 % of you thrive on drama.
very interesting. Guys, check out that episode if you missed it.
And thank you for the answering our poll.
So let's get into these compound adjectives, Lindsey, what is a compound adjective?
Yeah, compound adjective happens when we have at least two words that are connected together in order to describe a noun, so two words connected together in order in the same order, right, to describe a noun.
So the hyphen is meant to connect the two words together, Michelle.
And Lindsey, what is a hyphen?
Now, hyphen is just a little dash, right, a horizontal line that goes between two words.
And that's spelled H -Y -P -H -E -N, that's hyphen.
Yeah, that'll probably be a key word in the app.
So if you're listening in the app, check that out.
So we're going to go over a few ways to use these hyphens today.
Guys, we're not going to go over everything.
There's a lot to learn here, but we're going to give you a taste in some of the more important points that we think can be helpful for you to start with today.
So we're going to try and have you walk away from this episode with two main ideas.
And these are general.
There are times when the rules are broken, but we want you to have some of the main ones today.
Love it. Okay. So what is the first thing we need to know, Michelle, to really understand the answer for Sophia and for our listeners?
All right. So in a compound adjective, you need the hyphen, if it is coming before the noun it is referring to.
So let's go through this example with what Sophia said.
High pitched. She had a high pitched voice, so in between high and pitched because we're describing the voice, right?
It's gonna be a hyphen.
Right? And if we just say her voice was high -pitched, in that case, we don't use a hyphen, right, Michelle?
Mm -hmm. Exactly. So you need the one in the first example, because you're describing her voice.
So another way we wanna focus on is numbers and measurements.
So if they are descriptive, you use hyphens.
So let's give an example here.
He ate the whole one foot sub.
So between One and foot there's a hyphen.
Yes. I love it Or let's get even more descriptive with a with three words inside the adjective Right our 12 year old carpet is falling apart.
You don't say right So where are we putting hyphens here?
So, essentially there are two hyphens there and three words.
Again, you guys are probably going to want the transcripts for today.
Go to allersenglish .com, slash subscribe, or check out the app to see the transcripts.
OK? Good. Exactly. Imagine this.
You walk into a social event at work and you see tons of colleagues that you'd like to get to know better.
But when you walk up to them, your mind goes blank.
How would you start that conversation with your colleagues?
This is one of the many things that we show you how to do on our other Business English Podcast.
Search for Business English right now and hit the follow button, and come back for new episodes, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
See you there! Okay, we're back.
So can you form your own compound adjective is the other question that Sofia asked.
What do you think? Yeah, so of course you can.
So to form a compound adjective, you need to combine two words that end up being an adjective.
So here's a couple examples of how to form them.
So a little formula here is a word and an adjective.
So for example parent friendly, right?
Like, this cafe is very parent friendly.
There's a place for the kids to play.
So it'll be, oh, this is a parent friendly cafe, is what you're saying, right?
Right. Right. Right.
Parent friendly cafe, I messed up the order.
That's okay. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So that's what we said before, we need that hyphen if it is before cafe, right?
Love that. Or time -consuming, time dash, poor hyphen, So, you could say, this time -consuming work is really stressing me out.
Right? Yes. Or I'm working on a time -consuming project.
Okay. Yeah, so you can definitely make your own.
So, you could also do do a word and past participle.
So, for example, you could do well -written, right?
I'm reading the most well -written book right now.
So, well -dash -written.
Yeah, or he's a well -travelled person, right?
Well -dash -traveled, and that becomes the compound adjective.
Love it. Exactly. So, you can make your own.
Now, is it always going to work out?
Maybe not. Maybe it's better to kind of stick with the ones that are more familiar in the beginning.
But you can play around with them.
I don't you know, Sofia asked about, is there a limit to how creative you can get?
I mean, what do you think Lindsay?
There's no limit. We believe that English is you know, self expression, language is self expression.
I would rather have our listeners understand the formula and then try things.
is. And then CEO, did that feel right?
Was the person confused?
Were they clear? I think we can express ourselves through English.
Right yeah exactly.
And then with numbers you could do a number and a noun.
So for example, I'm going on a seven day cruise, seven hyphen day.
Lyndsey have you ever been on a cruise?
I can't say I really have Michelle I have not been on cruise.
I figured I'd go on them later in life.
I've been on some cruises.
I have to say they're super fun.
I know you and I, we like to go get more in and spend more time.
Yeah. Yeah. Right. Exactly.
I don't like the idea of you just go somewhere for a day and then you're at the port and then you leave.
But if you just go with the mindset of, I wouldn't go on a cruise to places I really want to spend time in, but if it's just a fun ...
I could stay on a boat for seven days.
Sure, sure, sure. are amazing.
Yeah. It's all about your, your mindset.
You're right, Michelle.
I love that. Seven day cruise.
Seven day sounds about right.
Maybe four to four to seven days, something like that.
Right. Right. Or five minute oats.
I eat five minute oats every day.
I warm up my old fashioned oatmeal and it takes five minutes.
Yep. Yeah. Old fashioned is another one.
So national meal. Do you really eat that?
Is that true? Do I really eat that?
Is that crazy? Yeah, I do.
I eat oatmeal every morning.
Yeah. I want to start eating oatmeal.
I'll let you know how it goes.
I mean, it works for me in case we fall into lunchtime.
I don't understand the whole, like, let me have a piece of bread and then I'm ravenous by 10 a .m.
And I can't work and I have to eat, and then I'm snacking, it just doesn't work out for me.
Same, I have eggs and I have banana.
Anyway, more on that another day.
There are more ways to do this.
But we gave you a few today.
So yes, you can create your own.
So some just to review, again, you could do a word and an adjective of word and a past participle or number and a noun.
So those are some ways that you can start to play with it a little bit, right?
Try and try and make one from each of these examples and see how it could fit in.
I don't think there's a limit.
Of course, again, we would rather you go for it and try the formula out and then say, Oh, wait, maybe Maybe that didn't work out so well, the not try it at all.
That's how we learn, right?
And preferably trying it by speaking it, right?
And connection and conversation, using it in a spoken way.
Yep. All right, Michelle, let's go into a role play.
So here, you and I are friends talking about a show that we just saw.
Okay, here we go. I just loved it.
Me too. Normally I don't like three hours shows, but it was so worth it.
Yeah. I mean, it was just such a well -written show.
Definitely. And I appreciate how they had some parent -friendly options with the timing.
So there was no need to stress.
Of course. Yeah, I'm going to be going to New York this weekend to see Wicked, I'm super excited.
It reminds me of that.
I'm really looking forward to it.
Yeah. Oh, I can't wait to hear about it.
Yeah, for sure. Should we go through this roleplay, Michelle, and break it down?
Let's break it down.
All right. So I said normally I don't like three hour shows.
So three dash hour show.
OK, yeah. Three dash hour.
That is the high, the compound adjective there.
And then I said, yeah, I mean, it was such a well written show.
So well, dash written or well hyphen written show.
OK, and then I said and I appreciate how they had some parent friendly options.
Parent hyphen friendly with the timing.
So, parent -friendly options, you could have said kid -friendly.
So, basically, the idea is, thinking about the timing, sometimes, maybe there was a matinee, something to make it a little easier for parents who maybe want to take kids or...
Right. Doesn't work quite as well for an 8 p .m.
showtime. Right? For little kids, I'm sure that's not the best.
Yeah, no. So, yeah, a three -hour show for a kid will never work out, but that's for another day.
All that too. Yeah, for sure.
This is great. So we've gone into this.
We've tried to answer Sophia's question.
We've kept it a little bit light today.
But if you want to study this on a deeper level, guys, come into our courses.
Come in to our grammar courses or B1, B2, C1 courses.
And this is how we go deeper into our learning.
Definitely. Love it.
All right. So takeaway for today, takeaway is, you know, I think the takeaway is experimentation here.
The answer to Sophia is yes, you can create your own compound adjective and you should.
Once you know the formula, you understand when the hyphen is used, when it's not, fill in the blank and have fun with the language.
All right, yep, exactly.
So there's so much more to this, but this was a really great start.
Look out for these in your everyday life and And always consider the placement, right?
Are we before the noun?
Are we after the noun?
So those are some things that you might want to consider.
When it comes down to it, at the end of the day, Lindsay, do you think most native speakers know?
No, they don't know this.
Most native speakers that aren't writers or editors or grammarians probably don't know this.
And they probably just use auto correct or something like that in their emails, grammarly, things like that.
So you're already ahead of the game.
I'm Sophia and our listeners for just knowing this, right?
Exactly and don't stress about this.
If you're writing a text message to a friend and you're not sure if there should be a hyphen or not.
If you're doing a school paper, okay, maybe that's something to consider.
I wouldn't stress about this, but now you know if you really want to be precise what the rules are.
You got it. Sounds good, Michelle, I'll see you back on this show very soon.
Okay. All right. Have a nice day.
Okay, okay. Bye Lynsey.
Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
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