What Makes a Compound Word?

Wrap-up 

Compound words are two words that come together to make one new word. Sometimes they're hyphenated; other times they're not. The best way to know if a compound word needs a hyphen is to look in the dictionary.

In this lesson you:

• Identified compound words and broke them down into two parts
• Combined two words to create new compound words
• Expanded your knowledge of compound words

On your own:

• Be on the lookout for compound words. They pop up in grocery stores (grapefruit, anyone?), in movie theaters (think of blockbusters), in magazines (makeover articles!), and just about anywhere you look.
• See how many compound words you can think of that begin with the word "free." Look "free" up in the dictionary to check your creations and find ones you missed. Try the same thing with the word "big" and "fire."
• How many compound words can you think of that refer to jobs, such as firefighter and innkeeper?