| Compound noun | the last word is the head; the first word narrows it | a bus stop / a swimming pool |
| Compound adjective | a singular noun after a number; a participle after a noun or adverb | a ten-minute walk / home-made jam / a well-known author |
| Conversion | a word changes class with no change of form; endings are regular | I'll email you. / Let's go for a run. |
| Short forms | clippings and blends are words; initialisms take a or an by sound | I go to the gym. / an MP |
| C1Meaning relation | the first noun gives the material, purpose, place, agent or time | a gold ring / a bus driver |
| C1Plural modifier | a few modifiers keep a plural form | a sports car / a women's magazine |
| C1Reduplication | the vowel changes in the repeat; i comes before a or o | zigzag / ping-pong |
| C1Productive element | an element such as -free, -proof or -led makes new adjectives | a sugar-free drink |
| C2Binomial | the order is fixed by length, sound or custom | fish and chips / null and void |
| C2Compound or phrase | a compound takes first-word stress and can mean more than its parts | a ˈblackbird ≠ a black ˈbird |
| C2Creative conversion | nouns become verbs and phrases become modifiers for one occasion | They gifted us a painting. / an I-told-you-so look |
| Trap | the noun after a number stays singular | a five-year-old boy |