(una nena de deu anys)
You will often meet compound adjectives in written English, e.g.:
| a ten-year-old girl (una nena de deu anys) |
| up-to-date information (informació al dia) |
| an on-line chat (un xat en línia) |
| a well-known singer (un cantant conegut) |
| a 12-metre fence (una tanca de 12 metres) |
| hand-made toys (joguines fetes a mà) |
| hard-working students (estudiants que treballen força) |
It is not usually necessary for you to use these expressions; normally you can write, for example:
| The girl was ten years old. (La nena tenia deu anys.) |
| The information was up to date. (La informació estava al dia.) |
| We sometimes chat on line. (De vegades fem xats en línia.) |
| That singer is well known. (Aquell cantant és conegut.) |
| The fence is 12 metres high. (La tanca fa 12 metres d'alçària.) |
| These toys were made by hand. (Aquestes joguines van ser fetes a mà.) |
| Those students work hard. (Aquells estudiants treballen força.) |
Note that in these cases (and many others), the expression before the noun has hyphens (-), but not the expression after the verb.
Here are some important exceptions to this general rule. If the compound adjective before the verb consists of an adverb ending in –ly, there is no hyphen, e.g.:
| some poorly built houses (Algunes cases mal construïdes) |
| a newly formed political party (un partit polític acabat de fundar) |
Some common compounds have a hyphen both before a noun and after a verb, e.g.: X-free, part-time, full-time, long-term, short-term, user-friendly
| a trouble-free system (un sistema que no té problemes) |
| The system is designed to be trouble-free. (El sistema és dissenyat per a no tenir problemes.) |
| a part-time job (una feina a temps parcial) |
| He works part-time. (Treballa a temps parcial.) |
| a user-friendly programme (un programa fàcil per als usuaris) |
| The programme is intended to be user-friendly. (Es pretén que el programa sigui fàcil per als usuaris.) |
