The building blocks of language

What do you notice about the language used in this short text?

I opened the car door, got inside and put on my seat belt. I checked my handbag for my key ring, but remembered I had left it on the coffee table in my ground-floor flat. I was already running late so I used a taxi app to get a lift to my job interview. On the way I checked my hairstyle was ok in my pocket mirror and went over the list of job requirements until we arrived at the company’s office block.

Did you notice there are a lot of multi-word nouns, like ‘car door’ or ‘hairstyle’? There are 12, in total. Can you identify them all? English is one of those languages where you can put words together like lego blocks to create new meanings; for example, ‘a bed-side table drawer-handle screw’. However, most multi-word nouns aren’t so long! Why not click on the image below and see how many nouns you can make?

Ed Taylor (Head of Studies at King’s Training)