American English -- Compound Nouns -- Page 5


Explanation and Discussion In American English Compound Nouns are sometimes hyphenated and sometimes not. No real rules exist but some trends do. Below I have some of the major groups of words and their generalities.

About, Around, and By Words Compound nouns ending in "about, around" and "by" are typically solid. For Example:
knockabout layabout runabout turnabout runaround turnaround passersby standby


Between, Through, and Together Words Compound nouns ending in "between, through" and "together" are hyphenated. For example:
go-between in-between follow-through run-through walk-together get-together


However with this exception
breakthrough
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