Language of the Day: Back-to-School
Today we’ll learn at Hyphenated Compound Words inspired by back-to-school season!
In Canada, early September is synonymous with back-to-school season as students of all ages are getting ready for classes by purchasing school supplies such as pencil cases, stationery, note books, and sometimes even a brand-new wardrobe!
Back-to-school is a hyphenated compound word that functions like an adjective. For example, “I made a back-to-school shopping list.” On the other hand, we can also use the same words in the same sequence, but without the hyphens the grammar functions are different. In the following sentence, “After lunch, I went back to school to study at the library,” “back” functions as an adverb, “to” is a preposition, and “school” is the object and a noun.
Compound words are when two or more words combine to form a single word or phrase that acts like a single word.
Today we’ll look at examples of hyphenated compound words, but there are also open compound words like “common sense” or “waiting room” that have a space between the words but no hyphens, and closed compound words like “desktop” or “anyone” that have neither spaces nor hyphens.
Here are some sentences using hyphenated compound words:
“I finally paid all of my outstanding bills so my finances are up-to-date.”
“The doctor recommended an over-the-counter medicine for my cough.”
“I started taking daily walks to improve my mental and physical well-being.”
“My sister-in-law was the runner-up in a national speech competition.”
“We made it to the airport just before the check-in deadline.”
“I heard about this restaurant by word-of-mouth.”
“The twenty-year-old students tried to maintain a long-distance relationship after they got admission into schools in different cities.”