Nouns as adjectives: my one simple tip to avoid mistakes

When I mark my students’ writing I divide common mistakes into categories, and this ‘Nouns as adjectives’ section was getting longer and longer.

I couldn’t work out exactly what was causing the errors, so I did some research.

The more I researched, the more confused I got with all the terminology, but in this lesson, I will try to clarify the rules and give you ONE quick tip that will fix (almost) everything!

Most of the time, these language items are so common and familiar that you don’t need to think about the rules e.g. toothpaste, football, town centre, car park, dog food, shoe shop.

But sometimes they cause problems, as you can see below.

To get more information, you can google:

nouns that act like adjectives
noun-like adjectives
nouns as adjectives
attributive nouns
noun modifiers
adjectival nouns
compound nouns

Also see my previous lesson relating to hyphens in compound nouns.

Problems with nouns as adjectives

Look at the list of errors below. Can you see what the main problem is?

There are different categories of movies’ genres.
Factories’ waste should be subject to stricter measures.
The noodles discs are dried.
This will reduce human’s diseases.
A drop in tourist’s rates.
Many company’s managers are often criticized for their high salary.
If the compensation’s gap is reduced they might have less of a sense of unfairness.
More governments’ investment is needed.
A flowers’ garden has been built.
Solving world’s hunger is a priority.
Genetic’s scientists were able to modify the genes.
Vehicles horns create disturbance.
I found it in an antiques’ shop

Answers

There are different categories of movie genres.
Factory waste should be subject to stricter measures.
The noodle discs are dried.
This will reduce human diseases.
A drop in tourist rates.
Many company managers are often criticized for their high salary.
If the compensation gap is reduced they might have less of a sense of unfairness.
More governments investment is needed.
A flower garden has been built.
Solving world hunger is a priority.
Genetic scientists were able to modify the genes.
Vehicle horns create disturbance.
I found this watch in an antique shop.

So what is the simple tip?

When you use nouns as adjectives, don’t put ‘s’ on the noun before the noun!

‘Normal’ adjectives

The ‘normal’ adjective rules are very simple.

Adjectives describe nouns, for example

a nice day
beautiful weather
a hot cup of tea
a sunny beach

But nouns describe nouns too.

Unlike normal adjectives, these ‘nouns as adjectives’ can go:

BEFORE the noun e.g. heart disease

AFTER the noun (with a preposition) e.g. disease OF the heart

Like ‘normal’ adjectives, these ‘noun-like adjectives’ do not need any kind of ‘s’ (plural or possessive).

A soup made of carrots = carrot soup

NOT

~~carrots soup~~
~~carrot’s soup~~
~~carrots’ soup~~

A park for cars = a car park

NOT

~~a cars park~~
~~a car’s park~~
~~a cars’ park~~

Prepositions: ‘in’ ‘of’ and ‘for’

Let’s look at the 3 most common prepositions that ‘create’ noun-like adjectives ‘in’ ‘of’ and ‘for’.

in

A road in the country = a country road
A party in the street = a street party
The Underground in London = the London Underground
Currents in the ocean = ocean currents
An account in a bank = a bank account

of

The centre of town = the town centre
The church of the village = the village church
the floor of the kitchen = the kitchen floor
The pocket of my coat = my coat pocket
The door of the car = the car door
The management of water = water management
The temperature of the sea = sea temperature
The Department of Education = the Education Department
A book of grammar = a grammar book
A tax of sugar = a sugar tax
Forces of the market = market forces
A member of a team = a team member
A teacher of English = an English teacher
The wealth of the world = world wealth
The crisis of refugees = The refugee crisis

for

(= for the purpose of)

Shoes for running = running shoes
A shop for shoes = a shoe shop
A cup for tea = tea cup
A room for beds = a bedroom
Food for dogs = dog food
A chain for a bicycle = a bicycle chain

Also:

from (= source)

Books from a library = library books
Paintings from/of/by Picasso = Picasso paintings

in/on/at (time)

Work at the weekend = weekend work
School in the summer = summer school
School on Sunday = Sunday school

by

Damage by water = water damage
Erosion by soil = soil erosion
Purchases by consumers = consumer purchases
Activity by criminals = criminal activity

about

A magazine about movies = a movie magazine

Measurements and materials

We saw examples of measurements in my previous blog about hyphens e.g.

over 10 years = over a 10-year period
A journey which takes 3 hours = a 3-hour journey
An essay of 250 words = a 250-word essay
He’s 4 years old./ He’s a 4-year-old boy.
This house has 2 bedrooms./ This is a 2-bedroom house.

Time nouns after ‘a/an’ need ‘s’ – an hour’s delay, a moment’s hesitation

3 days’ wait/ a 3-day wait

The examples relating to materials are well-known e.g

a cube made of ice = ice cube
a cup made of plastic = a plastic cup
a wall made of bricks = a brick wall

Nouns ending in ‘-er/-or’ and ‘ing’

‘-er/-or’ nouns

Someone who owns cars = a car owner
Someone who manufactures cars = a car manufacturer
Someone who directs films = a film director
Something to peel potatoes = a potato peeler

‘-ing’ nouns

a list for shopping = a shopping list
a pool for swimming = a swimming pool
a machine for washing = a washing machine
a stick for walking = a walking stick
a holiday for walking = a walking holiday

Exceptions and alternatives

In the ‘nouns as adjectives’ list of errors above, we saw that you do NOT need any kind of ‘s’ (no possessive ‘s’ or plural ‘s’).

However, there are some exceptions.

Plural ‘s’ is used in these examples:

a clothes shop
the ladies room
a sports car
the arms race
a singles bar
a news editor
an admissions policy,
a maths lesson (U.S. – Math lesson)
sales figures
materials design
customs officers

Possessive ‘s’ is used with these irregular plurals:

children’s literature
women’s rights

Possessive ‘s’ is also correct in these examples (both options are correct):

a summer day = a summer‘s day
The rays of the sun = the sun‘s rays
The milk of cows = cows’ milk
A day for Mothers = Mothers’ Day
Shakespeare plays = Shakespeare‘s plays
The influence of television = television‘s influence

IELTS-related examples

Compare

The government’s policy (‘government’ is a noun here, so we need possessive ‘s’ = of the government)
Government policy (‘government’ is an adjective here, so no possessive ‘s’ is required)

Both are correct and the difference seems to be between specific and general.

You can see a similar example here:

Water management (general)
The management of water (specific)

Many nouns are also adjectives e.g.

human, chemical, adult, alternative, classic, individual, minimum, transport, professional, male, female, animal, wildlife.

Other mistakes that occur, often in Speaking, are:

Advice about health = health advice (not ~~healthy~~ advice)
A course about photography = a photography course (not ~~photographic~~ workshop)

‘Hanging hyphens’ – don’t do this

Conclusion

If you just take away one thing from this lesson, it is that you should think twice about using an ‘s’ on words that describe nouns.

Keep it simple and drop the ‘s’.

If you’d like to look at the topic in more depth, I found this GUINLIST blog immensely useful and I am indebted to Paul Fanning for helping me understand the issues and for his excellent examples.

Find a simple but useful British Council guide to noun modifiers here.

This EnglishClub blog also has a simple list.

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Get more help with writing

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How to write complex sentences for IELTS.

‘Not only but also’ and inversion

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