By: Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

1Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

NOUNS AS MODIFIERSNOUNS AS MODIFIERS

Noun can be used to another noun:

Nouns as Modifiers

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 2

NOUN - NOUN ADJECTIVE - NOUN

•This car is for sportsdriving.

•It is a sports car.

•The Jeep has a drive(-train) that moves all four wheels.

•It has four-wheel drive.(a feature of the car)

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 3

In English we can put two nouns together. The first nounis used as an adjective to modify the second noun and iscalled a noun adjunct. The first noun is almost alwayssingular because it follows the rule for adjectives, whichdo not have plural forms in English.

N1 N2 can mean that:1. N1 is a kind of N2 (a grammar book is a kind of book)2. N1 is an object of an implied verb (an apple tree is a

tree that produces apples)

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 4

It is important to understand that N2 is the thing and N1 is the kind or type:

• a rose bush is a bush• a wrist watch is a watch• computer paper is paper

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 5

When a noun is used as a modifier, it is in its singular form.

The soup has vegetables in it:It is vegetable soup.

The building has offices in it:It is an office building.

officemodifies building.

vegetable modifies soup.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 6

My mother planted a rose bush in the garden.I bought a new table lamp.Bobby takes the school bus to school.The school ordered fifty new grammar books.That man makes bird cages.Mrs. Taylor bought some new baby clothes.

Examples:

N1 is singular, even if the phrase is plural.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 7

When a noun used as a modifier is combined with a number expression, the noun is singular and a hyphen (-) is used.

She has a five years old son..

CORRECTCORRECT

INCORRECTINCORRECTXXXXXXXX

She has a five-year-old son.√√√√√√√

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 8

We can use a number with N1 to make a compound adjective. Since the number and noun make one unit, we use a hyphen to join them. Note that N1 remains singular because it is being used as an adjective.

Examples:

a three-car garagea ten-speed bicyclea twenty-dollar bill

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 9

If we use a number to refer to the secondnoun (how many), we do not use a hyphen:

two grammar booksfive rose bushes

Examples:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 10

We can use a number to refer to the second noun(how many) and a number with the first noun(compound adjective). In that case, there is no hyphenafter the first number, but the second number is stillused with a hyphen because it forms a compoundadjective.

Examples:

two ten-dollar billsfour three-bedroom homes

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 11

two footstools vs. two-foot stools

Hyphens are used to avoid ambiguity for the reader.

NO HYPHEN HYPHEN

•Two footstools sold for a half-million dollars.

•Two-foot stools sold for a half-million dollars.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar12

It was a two-hour test.

It was a two hours test.

CORRECTCORRECT

INCORRECTINCORRECT

√√√√√√√

XXXXXXXX

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 13