6 Minute Vocabulary - Compound nouns

This is the BBC . This podcast is supported by advertising outside the . This is a download from BBC Learning English to find out more . Visit our website . Six minutes from BBC Learning English dot com . Hello and welcome to Six Minute Vocabulary with me , Alex and me , Finn . And today we're we're looking at compound nouns . And what are you eating ? Popcorn . I've also got some ice cream . Do you want some , Alice ? Well , maybe after the show . Oh , sorry . In today's show , we're looking at Compound . We'll look at what they are , what they mean and how to use them . There will be a quiz and we'll leave you with a tasty top tip for learning vocabulary . So first up , we're going to listen to Bill and his daughter in law talking about Bill's computer . And here's a question to think about while you listen . What's wrong with Bill's laptop ? What's wrong with Bill's laptop ? Let's find out . I'm having problems with this new software . Where's my keys ? Good . With computers . He's buying postcards at the post office , I think . Let me have a look then . Uh huh . I think I can fix this . Susan , you're my favorite daughter in law , but should I buy a new laptop ? I think you'll have to build this keyboard . Doesn't work at all . So that's Bill and his daughter in law . And we asked you what's wrong with Bill's laptop ? And the answer is the keyboard doesn't work . Now , keyboard is a key word in today's show because it's an example of a compound noun . That's right . In English vocabulary , we often put two or more nouns together to form a new noun with a meaning that combines the meanings of the two original nouns . We call these words , for example , keyboard . The second part board names , the thing we are talking about , and the first part tells us what type of thing it is . It's a board with keys . Now we usually write keyboard as one word . Same with laptop software and postcard , but we write others as two words . For example , post office . It's an office where we post things and we write it as two words . Unfortunately , there aren't really any rules about when to write compound nouns as one word and when to write them as two words . So be sure to use a good dictionary . You're listening to BBC Learning English dotcom , and we're talking about compound nouns , and if you listening carefully , earlier on , you might have noticed a few compound nouns right at the start , popcorn with one of them . We also had ice cream , another compound noun . And you may also have noticed how these words are pronounced with compound nouns . The stress usually goes on the first part , like this popcorn ice cream keyboard . Now , what's our final example ? Ali's daughter in law . This compound noun is made of a noun and a prepositional phrase . Now , when we write three word compounds , we usually use hyphens , little dashes between the words . This shows the three words go together and the plural is daughters in law , not daughter in laws . We are talking about two daughters , so we the plural s to this word . Do you have any daughters in law , ? No , I don't . I'm far too young to have any . Course you are . Yes , but I do have a sister in law and she's a lovely woman . Lovely . Very nice . Let's hear about compound nouns again . Their fixed expressions formed from two or three words linked together in different ways . There are compounds we write as one word like keyboard software and popcorn , but we write some of them as two separate words like post office and ice cream . That's right . Now it's time for a quiz . I'm going to say a compound noun . And I'm also going to say whether we write it as one word , two words or with hyphens and you decide if this is true or false . Ready ? Yes . Number one , popcorn , two words . And that's false . It's one word . No . Two ice cream , one word false . It's two words . And number three , daughters in law with hyphens . True . That's right . It has hyphens well done if you got those right . And that brings us almost to the end of the program . But before we finish , here's today's top tip for learning vocabulary . Practice the pronunciation of compound nouns . The stress is on the first word . So try saying hot dog with an equal stress on both words . Hot dog . This means a dog that is hot . Then say it again with the stress on the first word . Hot dog . That's a type of sausage snack . Oh great . Thank you . And that's wonderful . There's more about this that busy learning English dotcom . Join us again for more six minute vocabulary by .