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Along the lines of What is an example of 3 or 4 word compound verbs (in English)? (and the linked question on nouns), I am wondering how Chinese works with sequences/compounds of verbs and nouns. I don't have any examples in English (yet) of 3, 4, or longer sequences of words to denote a compound noun or verb, but I have two words for now (verb: "believe in", noun: "bus stop"). Are the 3+ word compound nouns in Chinese (either verbs or nouns)? If so, are they marked in any special ways with particles, or how do you know they aren't separate words?

The bus stop aircraft carriers count on time-travel machines.

In this case we have:

The [bus stop] [aircraft carriers] [count on] [time-travel machines].

In English, there is no markers, they just count on your knowledge. Is it the same way for Chinese? Can you provide an example of a 3 or 4 word "compound noun" and "compound verb" as well, to demonstrate its usage?

Update: Here is a list of a few 4-word compound nouns in English. Some of these English words are themselves composed of parts, like "house budget committee chairman", where it's really "chair + man", or even "government accountability office report", which you could say is really "govern [verb] + -ment + accountable [verb] + ability + office + report". In English we have these "word modifiers" or changes in word "morphology" (govern + ment, accountable + ability), but in Chinese my understanding is you don't have these, so how does Chinese handle these "nested" compound word forms?

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  • Some basic knowledge of Chinese: There are no particles in Chinese. No special markers. No morphological changes. Most words are compound words. Morphemes are just put together one by one. There is no clear boundary between morphemes, words and compound words. This is just the way Chinese is.
    – Betty
    Dec 21, 2021 at 3:56

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First, answer your question:

人民英雄纪念碑 (人民 noun, 英雄 noun, 纪念碑 noun)

国家博物馆 (国家 noun, 博物馆 noun)

However, in Chinese grammer, when 2 words(looks like both are nouns) compound together, it becomes adj + noun.

so:

人民英雄纪念碑 = 人民(的) adj + 英雄(的) heroic adj, 纪念碑 noun

国家博物馆 = 国家(的) adj + 博物馆 noun.

conclusion:

Chinese is very simple to learn, don't make it complex.

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