Advanced English Vocabulary: Compound Adjectives

Hey, everyone.

I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on multi-word adjectives.

So, this is an advanced lesson, where I will give you a ton of examples of multi-word adjectives

and the contexts in which you can use them, as well as the structure... the grammatical

structure, the grammatical pieces and parts of speech you need to form your own, you know,

multi-word adjectives.

Now, what's tricky about these is that you can't just take any words and mash them together.

Unfortunately, you know, some words have gone together better than others.

So, it is kind of an issue of memorizing things, but you can try to get creative.

And after you watch the video, if you know any other multi-word adjectives or if you

want to experiment with the language and try to create your own, you can ask me in the

comments or write me in the comments, and let me know if you, you know, want to ask

me if it's a multi-word adjective that exists or maybe it's something that's just fun and

funny.

So, if you can make me laugh, that's even better.

All right, so let's begin.

What is a "multi-word adjective"?

I think it's best if we just start looking at them and look at the examples, and you'll

see what I mean.

So, the first way...

I say first, but really any of these could be first.

The first way I have listed on the board is you can have an adverb, add an "ed" participle

or an "ed" adjective to create a new word; a new adjective.

So, for example, you can create words, like: "well-developed", "fully-trained", "highly-skilled".

Okay?

So, a well-developed app or a well-developed program.

So, remember: Adjectives are words which describe things.

So, ideally, after these adjectives you should have some kind of noun.

So, what are some things that could be well-developed?

So, a well-developed app, a well-developed game, a well-developed program.

Okay?

"Fully-trained", so a fully-trained marine, a fully-trained police officer; someone who

has received full training and is an expert in their field.

Okay?

"Highly-skilled" - someone who has a high degree of skill in their area.

So, you can be a highly-skilled detective, or a highly-skilled doctor, a highly-skilled

surgeon, a highly-skilled...

Whatever profession you can think of that requires a high degree of skill.

Next, you can take an adverb, add an "ing" participle or "ing" adjective.

And you have words, like: "hard-working", "fast-acting", "well-paying".

So, a hard-working person, a fast-acting pain reliever or a fast-acting medication.

So, if you have pain and you take medicine, and the medicine acts very quickly...

Maybe in two minutes: "Oh, it works."

It's a fast-acting medication.

Okay?

"Well-paying", so you can have a well-paying job; the company pays you well; the job is

well-paying.

You can also...

Hey, you can also use "well-paid".

So, if the company pays you, you can say, you know: "I am well-paid for my work.

I have a well-paying job."

Okay?

Next: You can have a noun plus "ed" participle.

You notice the pattern, right?

You see: "ed", "ing", "ed", "ing", "ed", "ing", "ed", "noun"...

That's later.

So, a noun plus "ed" participle.

For example: "money-related", "self-created", "steel-enforced".

So, if you can...

If you say, for example, you know: "The country is experiencing some financial problems.

They are having some money-related issues."

Or maybe a city is having some crime-related problems.

Or: "Hmm, this is an age-related issue" - an issue related to age or a problem related

to money; something like that.

"Self-created", so, you know, all your problems are self-created.

So, if you create problems for yourself, you are, you know, self-creating problems, so

your problems are self-created.

"Steel-enforced", so maybe this is at a prison that has very heavy security, and the walls

are enforced with steel, so, you know, you cannot really break through them because they

are enforced with steel.

So, "steel-enforced walls".

Next we have a noun plus an "ing" participle.

So, you have words like: "fun-loving", "award-winning", "mind-altering".

So, you can be a fun-loving person.

If you love to have fun, you can say, you know: "Yeah, I'm a fun-loving person."

It's a weird thing to say about yourself, but about other people, you could say: "Yeah,

she's a really fun-loving girl" or "He's a really fun-loving guy."

"Award-winning" - think of TV commercials of...

Around, like February or January when Oscar season comes to Hollywood in the United States

and, you know, this is an award-winning movie, an award-winning performance.

So, a movie that has won an award, a performance or an actor that has won an award: "He is

an award-winning actor", "an award-winning director", "an award-winning music album".

"Mind-altering", so if you have an experience that: "Whoa", changes your mind - it's a mind-altering

experience.

We also talk about mind-altering drugs in this scenario.

So, people who take drugs that mess with their brain chemistry or play with their brain chemistry,

you can say: "Yeah, he's into, like, mind-altering drugs."

You know, drugs that affect the chemicals in his brain.

So, adjective plus "ed" participle.

So, you can have adjective, adjective, like, for example: "blonde-haired", "brown-eyed",

"three-legged".

Now, you're thinking: "Haired?

Eyed?

Legged?"

Yes.

So, if you want to talk about the physical characteristics of a person, you can give

the adjective to describe the body part...

So, here we have colours: "blonde", "brown"; we have a number: "three", and then we add

"ed" to the body part.

So: "a blonde-haired girl", "a brown-eyed boy", "a three-legged dog", "a one-eyed person".

Maybe they lost an eye in an accident.

If someone has a big nose, you can say: "a big-nosed" whatever.

Okay?

So, you can basically, you know, add an adjective, plus the body part, plus "ed", and you can

use that to describe the physical characteristics of a person.

So, next: Adjective plus "ing" participle.

Some of these you might be familiar with, like: "good-looking" - a good-looking person,

a good-looking guy, a good-looking girl.

We have: "foul-smelling".

So, "foul" is another word for awful, horrible, terrible.

Okay?

So, a foul-smelling refrigerator.

Maybe you open the refrigerator and it hasn't been opened in three months: a foul-smelling

refrigerator, a foul-smelling lunch, or something like that.

It smells really bad.

"Free-thinking", so a person who is a free thinker, who is open-minded...

Here's another one for you: "open-minded", "close-minded".

A free-thinking person, a free-thinking individual, a free thinking politician, a free-thinking

psychologist - whatever it is.

Next: You can have numbers in these as well.

So, you saw one already with the "three-legged", so you can say: "a three-legged dog", for

example.

You can also have number plus "ed" participle, so we have: "one-eyed", "three-fingered",

"two-faced".

So, again, a person with one eye, maybe they had an accident.

Okay.

Think of a pirate, right?

Pirates, stereotypically in fiction, they are depicted as having one eye with an eye

patch, so they are one-eyed pirates.

"Three-fingered", so maybe a character in a movie, they lost two fingers, so they have

three fingers.

If you remember The Fugitive, or if you remember, more specifically...

Was it Ace Ventura or The Mask when Jim Carrey makes fun of The Fugitive, and he says: "It

wasn't me; it was the one-armed man"?

Okay?

So, a one-armed person; a person with one arm.

The one-armed man in the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford.

"Two-faced".

Now, you might be thinking of: "Wait a minute.

I saw The Dark Knight.

I saw Harvey Dent when he became two-faced in that movie."

If you're not thinking that, that's okay.

So, this has an idiomatic meaning: A person who is two-faced is duplicitous.

You can also say they are deceitful.

They, you know...

They're two-faced; they have two faces because sometimes they are happy and sometimes they're

angry.

So, to your face maybe they're very kind, but behind your back they are not very kind,

so they have two faces.

So: "Ah, that two-faced jerk", you can say.

All right.

You can also have a number plus a noun.

So, this comes in very handy; this is very useful if you are talking about stuff that

involves measurement.

So, here we have: "a two-liter bottle".

So, if you have a bottle and it says: "2L", yes, the bottle can store two liters; it is

a two-liter bottle.

So, maybe some of you, you run marathons.

Okay?

And you say: -"Hey.

Did you bring water?"

-"Yeah, I brought a one-liter bottle" or "a 1.5-liter bottle of water."

Okay?

"A five-story building", so a building with five stories.

Now, what is a "story"?

This is weird, right?

So, basically a story is a floor.

This is very American.

So, a five-story building is a building with five floors.

And then, finally, we have-ah, it's better if I go on this side-"a three-year-old girl".

I gave you a little bonus one with more than one hyphen in it.

So: "a three-year-old girl" - a girl who is three years old is a three-year-old girl.

What is special about this category and what I want you to notice is: It doesn't matter

what the number is.

Okay?

It can be two, three, four, one, 12 - whatever.

The noun you use is not plural.

Okay?

I know, normally, it should be, like: "a bottle with two liters", right?

Because "two" is plural", it should say "liters".

But when you use it this way...

When you use it like an adjective before the noun, the noun stays plural.

So, not "a two-liters bottle", but "a two-liter bottle"; it's not "a five-stories building",

it's "a five-story building".

Okay?

"A three-year", no "s".

"A three-year-old girl".

But, yes, you do say: "I am three years old."

Okay?

But you don't say: "a three-years-old girl"; you say: "a three-year-old girl", here.

Are you confused yet?

A little bit.

That's normal; it's okay.

Like I said, it's an advanced lesson.

If you are a beginner student and you're wondering: "What is this?

What's going on?"

get a taste, go back, look at some of the beginner videos instead.

If you are advanced, hopefully you're having fun and you're enjoying yourself, and some

of this stuff is new for you and some of it is kind of familiar.

So, to finish, what I'm going to do is look at some other common adjective phrases; some

multi-adjective combinations, and I'll give you some context.

So, here, we have...

This is difficult, here.

We have things like: "full-time", right?

A full-time job.

Okay?

"Part-time" - a part-time job.

Right?

"Middle-aged", so a person who is in their 40s, 50s...

They're 45 years old or 50 years old - they are middle-aged.

A middle-aged man, a middle-aged woman, a middle-aged person.

Okay?

Next, we have: "power-hungry".

So, someone who is hungry for power, we can say: "They are power-hungry".

So, a power-hungry politician, a power-hungry dictator.

Darth Vader in Star Wars was a power-hungry Sith Lord.

Don't ask me what a Sith Lord is in the comments.

Okay?

Watch Star Wars.

It's only specific to Star Wars.

All right.

And next we have: "right-leaning" and "left-leaning".

So, this refers to your political affiliation, kind of which side of the political fence

you are on.

If you are a...

Okay, your left is this way.

Is that true?

Yeah.

So, if you are a left-leaning person, it means you are more liberal.

Okay?

If you are a right-leaning person, you are more conservative.

Okay?

So, "to lean"...

If you're wondering: "What is 'lean'"?

"To lean" is to, like, move your body to one side, like this, or like that.

You can lean back, you can lean forward as well.

So, you can say: "My uncle is a right-leaning conservative; most of my family are left-leaning."

Okay?

Next we have: "cold-hearted".

So, a person with a cold heart; a person who doesn't have compassion for other people;

a person who lacks kindness.

So, think of fictional characters, like in Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort - you can say

he is a cold-hearted villain.

Again, I'm going back to politicians.

Again, you can be a cold-hearted dictator, a cold-hearted totalitarian, a cold-hearted

politician, basically.

All right, next we have: "full-length".

So, a full-length film is usually the context we think of this in.

So, if you are asking a person, you know...

If a person asks you to watch a...

Watch something on TV, or on Netflix, or somewhere else online, and you say: -"Wait.

Is it a TV show?

Is it a miniseries?

Is it a short film?"

-"No, no.

It's a full-length movie."

Okay?

A full-length feature film, you can say as well.

Okay?

So, it's like, you know, typically a full-length movie is about at least 90 minutes to two

hours and a half.

And next we have three different things: "life/time/soul-sucking".

Okay, now this doesn't mean: "Life sucks.

Time sucks.

Your soul sucks", but a life-sucking job or a time-sucking task, a soul-sucking job.

So, imagine, like, an experience or a job that you feel is taking the life out of you,

or is sucking the...

Your soul out of you because you are working so hard, you don't like what you're doing

- this is soul-sucking work, or it's a time-sucking job, or a life-sucking task.

Okay?

So, it sucks the life out of you, it sucks your soul, it sucks your time.

Okay?

"Life-changing" - something that changes your life.

A life-changing experience, a life-changing book.

I just read the philosophies of Bruce Lee, and for me it was kind of a life-changing

book because I had never read about a lot of the philosophies that are in that book.

It was awesome, so I really recommend the philosophies of Bruce Lee.

The name of the book is The Warrior Within.

If you want the audio version, check out https://www.engvid.com/out/audiblealex - there's a link in the description.

And, finally: "heart-pounding".

So, think of your heart, and "to pound" is: "Boof, boof, boof, boof."

So, if your heart is going really quickly, like: "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom", that's

your heart is pounding.

This can be to talk about an experience, maybe it's a horror movie that you're watching.

So, it was a heart-pounding movie, a heart-pounding rollercoaster ride, a heart-pounding experience.

Okay?

It's a lot of stuff, right?

So, if you want to test your understanding and make sure that you got this, as always,

you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com; you can also add me on Facebook, I have a

fan page there; you can check me out on Twitter.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

And, really, leave me some comments and let me know if you understood the lesson, let

me know if you have any questions about the lesson, and see if you can create your own

adjectives.

Okay?

Your own multi-word adjectives.

Sometimes it will work; sometimes it won't.

Okay?

Some things go together better than others.

It's like baking.

Right?

You have to have your flour, and your egg, and your milk, and...

I don't know a lot about baking, I really don't.

I can make cookies - that's it.

Okay?

Anyway, finally, if you want to support what we do...

If you think: "Wow, this was really cool.

I learnt a lot of new vocabulary.

Alex, I want to give you some money.

How do I pay you?"

you can do that on www.engvid.com at the "Support" link.

Okay?

And if you don't want to do that, that's fine, too.

I appreciate that you have made it this far into the video, and I wish you all the best

of luck in your studies.

And I'll see you guys next time.

Bye.

I'm going to go hunt some aliens with Samus.