Curso de Inglés Avanzado Lección 2

Vocabulary – Compound Nouns

Look at the following words taken from the previous listening.

air conditioning
waterfalls
wildlife
guest house
swimming pool
eco-tourism

These words are compound nouns. There is no fixed rule for writing compound nouns. They can be written as one word, two separate words or with a hyphen. You may sometimes find that even dictionaries do not agree.

See how many compound nouns you can make by combining a word on the left below with a word on the right. The words on the right may be used more than once. Use a dictionary to help you, and write the words below. Follow the example.

Example:
I’m not working on Monday. It’s a so I’m going away for a long weekend with the wife and kids.

1. Please type your name in the subject bar if you send me an email. Otherwise it’ll go into the folder with all the adverts for viagra, p*nis enlargement and cheap holidays.
2. I haven’t been back to the UK for nearly a year. All my friends and family are there and I really get sometimes, especially at weekends and holidays.
3. The only thing I don’t like about living by myself is all the . It feels as if I’m always cleaning or ironing or doing the washing. I hardly get any free time.
4. Here’s your passport sir. You’re in room 215 and here’s your . You need to put it in the switch behind the door to turn on the lights and air conditioning.
5. When I move to Italy and start my new job I’ll have to open a new so that my salary gets paid in every month.
6. My sister’s a . She says at home and looks after the flat and the kids while her husband goes out to work every day.
7. I think I’ve got a . My laptop won’t connect to the Internet and all my music and video files have disappeared.
8. I shouldn’t have had that last double whisky last night. My throat feels dry, I feel sick and I’ve got a terrible .
9. Whenever I visit his flat it’s always so clean and tidy. Everything is in it’s place and the bathroom’s always spotless. He’s so .
10. I really don’t feel like cooking. Let’s go out for a pizza or a hamburger or something. I fancy some .
11. Whenever I transfer money, cash a check or use my credit card it costs me money. I’m sick of all these .
12. Why don’t you check out this web site. Just go to the and click on ‘prices’. I just can’t believe how cheap everything is.

Listen to check your answers.

Listen again and

read the transcription. Repeat the sentences and use the 'pause' button on your media player to give you time to practise pronunciation.