Compound nouns are heavily featured in the TOEIC exam, particularly in Part 7 (Reading Comprehension) involving emails, memos, and advertisements. A compound noun consists of two nouns placed together to mean one specific thing.
Common TOEIC Compound Nouns
You must be able to read and process these terms instantly without having to pause and translate them in your head:
- Human resources: The department responsible for hiring and training staff.
- Profit margin: The amount by which revenue from sales exceeds costs.
- Performance review: An evaluation of an employee's work over a specific period.
- Assembly line: A series of workers and machines in a factory.
The Grammar Trap
In Part 5 and Part 6, the test often tries to confuse you regarding pluralization. When making a compound noun plural, remember that only the second noun usually takes the 's'.
- Correct: Customer complaints (NOT customers complaints)
- Correct: Sales representatives (Note: "sales" is an exception that is permanently pluralized in this compound, but "representative" still takes the final plural 's').
Familiarizing yourself with these structures will drastically improve your reading speed during the exam.