Compound Adjectives

Compound Adjectives

What's the difference between these two examples?

Beware of the man eating tiger.

And

Beware of the man-eating tiger.

At first sight, the only difference is this little mark, - , a hyphen. But that little mark actually makes a huge difference in the meaning of those two sentences. Let's explore how that hyphen changes the meaning.

In the first example, there is no hyphen. Without the hyphen, 'man eating tiger' sounds like the man is eating a tiger.

In the second example, the sentence has a hyphen between man and eating. This hyphen creates a different meaning; it means that the tiger likes to eat humans.

The hyphen in the second sentence creates a type of word called a compound adjective. Compound adjectives are made when two or more adjectives are joined together to modify, or describe, the same noun. Using a hyphen helps to avoid confusion, such as in the example above. Compound adjectives are also sometimes called hyphenated adjectives.

Examples of Compound Adjectives

Here are some more examples of compound adjectives:

• Snakes and other reptiles are cold-blooded animals.
• The Great Pyrenees is a white-furred breed of dog.
• The 36-year-old baseball player retired.
• The 3-foot-deep puddle covers the playground.

Example 1

The concert floor is full of ten year old girls.

The lack of a hyphen makes the sentence confusing. It could mean that the concert floor has ten girls who are each a year old.

Now, look at the same sentence with hyphens:

The concert floor is full of ten-year-old girls.

When you add the hyphens, it is clear that the concert floor is full of girls who are ten years old.

Example 2

Here's another example, first without the hyphen:

The daddy long legs is a long legged spider.

In the first example, the daddy long legs is a long spider that has legs.

Now let's see what happens when we add a hyphen:

The daddy long legs is a long-legged spider.

When we add a hyphen between long and legged, the confusion is cleared up and the daddy long legs is a spider with long legs.