NOUNS AS MODIFIERS

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

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 1

 Nouns as Modifiers

Noun can be used to another noun:

NOUN - NOUN ADJECTIVE - NOUN

•This car is for sports •It is a sports car.

driving.
•The Jeep has a drive(- •It has four-wheel
train) that moves all drive.
four wheels. (a feature of the car)

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 2

 In English we can put two nouns together. The first noun
is used as an adjective to modify the second noun and is
called a noun adjunct. The first noun is almost always
singular because it follows the rule for adjectives, which
do 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 3

 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 4

 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.

office vegetable
modifies modifies
building. soup.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 5
Examples:

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.

N1 is singular, even if the phrase is plural.

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 6

 When a noun used as a modifier is
combined with a number expression,
the noun is singular and a hyphen (-)
is used.
CORRECT √√√√√√√
She has a five-year-old son.

XXXXXXXX INCORRECT

She has a five years old son..

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 7

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 garage
a ten-speed bicycle
a twenty-dollar bill

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 8

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

Examples:

two grammar books

five rose bushes

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 9

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 hyphen
after the first number, but the second number is still
used with a hyphen because it forms a compound
adjective.

Examples:

two ten-dollar bills

four three-bedroom homes

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 10

 Hyphens are used to avoid ambiguity for the reader.

NO HYPHEN HYPHEN
•Two footstools sold •Two-foot stools sold
for a half-million dollars. for a half-million dollars.

two footstools vs. two-foot stools

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 11

 CORRECT √√√√√√√
It was a two-hour test.
XXXXXXXX INCORRECT

It was a two hours test.

12 Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 13