Pedants United: Nouns used as Adjectives

Nouns used as Adjectives

If one uses a noun as an adjective preceding another noun the noun used as an adjective must always be in the singular. So we have:

lady driver

and

lady drivers.

This basic rule is frequently infringed today in the phrase:

women priests.

This should be:

woman priests.

Well, actually, it should in most of its occurrences be:

woman presbyters.

One often has a choice between a noun used as an adjective and a noun in the possessive case. Thus one may say either:

a 30-minute drive

30 minutes' drive

but not

a 30-minutes drive.

# posted by Daniel Hill @ 3:36 pm

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