Basics: Compound Nouns
This challenge contains 11 questions at medium difficulty covering Basics: Compound Nouns. Test your knowledge with a mix of question formats!
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Correct Answers
Complete the real estate agent's enthusiastic email to a plant-loving client.
You will absolutely love this property! It features a massive _____ in the backyard where you can grow tropical plants all winter.
The correct answer is greenhouse.
A greenhouse (closed compound noun) is a glass building used for growing plants. A green house (adjective + noun) simply means a house that is painted the color green. Since the client wants to grow tropical plants, they need a greenhouse!
The correct answers are: A half-eaten cupcake was found near the safe. There was a suspicious getaway car parked in the alley.
Compound nouns can be closed (one word), open (two words), or hyphenated.
- Cupcake is a closed compound noun.
- Getaway car is an open compound noun.
- "Finger print" should be a closed compound noun (fingerprint).
- "Rollingpin" should be an open compound noun (rolling pin).
Finish the local newspaper's report on the chaotic pie-baking contest.
Because the judge accidentally ate the scorecards, there were three _____ who all demanded the silver trophy.
The correct answer is runners-up.
In compound nouns made of a noun and a particle/preposition (like runner-up or passerby), the plural -s attaches to the main noun (runner), not the end of the word.
The correct answers are: This charming estate features a beautiful greenhouse for your carnivorous plants. You will love the enormous swimming pool in the backyard.
A compound noun functions as a single unit of meaning.
- A greenhouse is a glass building for growing plants, whereas a green house is simply any house painted the color green.
- A swimming pool is a specific type of facility designed for swimming (a compound noun), whereas a swimming duck is just a duck (noun) that happens to be swimming (participle acting as an adjective).
Help the stressed wedding planner finalize the seating chart by choosing the correct word.
The bride has five _____, and they all want to sit right next to the open bar.
The correct answer is brothers-in-law.
When pluralizing a hyphenated compound noun, you must add the plural -s to the "head" noun (the most important word). Since they are brothers (not laws), "brothers" becomes plural.
The correct answers are brother-in-law's and sisters-in-law.
Brother-in-law's is a singular possessive. To show possession for a compound noun, you always add 's to the very end of the word, regardless of where the head noun is.
Sisters-in-law is a simple plural. Because there are "three" of them, we need the plural form. We pluralize the head noun (sister -> sisters) without adding an apostrophe.
Complete the angry traveler's online review by choosing the correctly spelled compound noun for each blank.
The hotel room was a disaster! I found a half-eaten bowl of ice cream under the bed, and the bathroom was completely out of toothpaste.
The hotel room was a disaster! I found a half-eaten bowl of ice cream under the bed...
"Ice cream" is an open compound noun, meaning it is written as two separate words despite functioning as a single idea.
...and the bathroom was completely out of toothpaste.
"Toothpaste" is a closed compound noun, meaning the two original words have merged into one single word with no spaces or hyphens.
Help the event planner complete her notes about the chaotic family reunion by choosing the correct words for each blank.
To avoid any drama, the planner seated all the mothers-in-law at a separate table, far away from the two runners-up of last year's pie-eating contest.
To avoid any drama, the planner seated all the mothers-in-law at a separate table...
When pluralizing a hyphenated compound noun, we add the plural "-s" to the principal word (the "head noun"). Since they are mothers, it becomes mothers-in-law.
...far away from the two runners-up of last year's pie-eating contest.
Similarly, the head noun here is "runner," so we pluralize it as runners-up, not runner-ups.
The correct answers are runners-up and grown-ups.
In the compound noun runner-up, "runner" is the head noun, so it takes the plural "-s" (runners-up).
However, grown-up is made entirely of an adjective (grown) and a preposition (up). When a compound noun lacks a clear head noun, we simply add "-s" to the very end of the word (grown-ups).
Complete the new employee's survival guide by choosing the correctly formatted compound noun for each blank.
To survive Monday mornings, you need to master the art of the brainstorm and never miss a strict Friday deadline.
To survive Monday mornings, you need to master the art of the brainstorm...
"Brainstorm" is a closed compound noun. Over time, as compound words become more common in English, they often evolve from two words (or hyphenated words) into a single, closed word.
...and never miss a strict Friday deadline.
"Deadline" is also a closed compound noun. Writing it as two words ("dead line") changes the meaning entirely, and hyphenating it is incorrect.
The correct answers are mothers-in-law and passersby.
For hyphenated compound nouns containing a noun and a preposition/adjective (like mother-in-law or passerby), we make them plural by adding "-s" to the principal noun (the "head noun"), not to the end of the word.
Therefore, mother becomes mothers (mothers-in-law) and passer becomes passers (passersby).
Noun
Noun vs verb: the two core word classes. Nouns name things; verbs describe actions/states. Many English words can be both (run, play, cook, work) — only the sentence slot tells you which role it's playing. The run was exhausting (noun) vs I run every day (verb).
A noun names an entity. It interacts with articles, determiners, forms plurals, and controls verb agreement and pronoun choice.
Diagnostic: can you put the/a before it or pluralise it? → noun. Does it describe an action with tense? → verb. Can it do both? → check the sentence context.
English Grammar Basics
Basics vs intermediate/advanced grammar: if you're unsure whether to study articles or conditionals, tense basics or reported speech — you need to check whether your foundations are solid first. Basics covers everything up to A2.
English Grammar Basics groups the core building blocks: nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, present/past tenses, questions, and negation.
Diagnostic: if you still hesitate over she don't vs she doesn't, or a vs an — start here. Master these and intermediate topics stop feeling random.
A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate
A2 vs B1: A2 handles routine transactions and simple past narration. B1 handles connected discourse, explaining reasons, and understanding main points in clear standard speech. If you can tell what happened but not why it matters, you're still A2.
A2 is the elementary level of the CEFR: past simple, present perfect, first conditional, basic modals, and routine communication about familiar topics.
Diagnostic: can you link ideas with because, although, so that and hold a conversation beyond scripted topics? No → A2. Yes → moving into B1.
Medium
Medium vs Easy: Easy has one obviously correct answer and clearly wrong distractors. Medium has one correct answer but plausible distractors — you need to actually know the rule, not just guess from sound.
The Medium tag filters for A2–B1 challenges with realistic difficulty: one rule per question, plausible alternatives, everyday contexts.
Diagnostic: if you're scoring 90%+ on Easy, move here. If you're below 60% on Medium, go back to Easy for that topic. Target 70–80% accuracy for maximum learning.