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Minhuoc Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

a few minutes drive

0Please tell me whether "a few minute drive is a compound noun in the following sentence? Please explain. Thanks02br
02br
001.The temple is only 01u00a few minutes drive02u00 from the station.02br
02br
002.The temple is only 01u00a few minute drive02u00 from the station.0-
  

Top answer

0 01i 00... 02i 02br 00 and02br 01i 00... 02br 02br 00 No -- it's not a compound noun.

— CalifJim

  • 0 01i 00...
  • 02i 02br 00 and02br 01i 00...
  • 02br 02br 00 No -- it's not a compound noun.
  • 02br 02br 00 CJ0-
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7 Answers
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0 01i00... only a drive of a few minutes ...02i02br
00 and02br
01i00... only a few minutes' drive ...02i02br
02br
00 are the correct possibilities.02br
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00 No -- it's not a compound noun. It's a possessive structure.02br
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00 CJ0-
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02.The temple is only 01u00a few-minute drive 02u00 from the station. I think it is possible. " a few " is an unknown number. " minute " is the noun and no need to be plural in this case. 0-
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0 For some strange reason, we don't typically use anything but numbers in that kind of hyphenated pattern. 01i00two-minute drive02i00, 01i00five-minute drive02i00, etc.02br
00 But I've never seen other words like 01i00few02i00 in that position, and I've never heard anyone say it that way.02br
02br
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0In the US, we say " the church is only few minutes from my house"02br
02br
00 "Our house is only a 5 -mintue drive from here"02br
02br
00 "My office is a three-mile from here"0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Goodman12cite10In the US, we say "the church is only few minutes from my house"12blockquote
10 You intended to write "the church is only 01b00a02b00 few minutes from my house", I suppose. Right?02br
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00paco 0-
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1i00The church is only a few minutes from my house.02i02br
02br
00The above sentence is ambiguous. It would be better to specify a few minutes' walk or a few minutes' drive.0-
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Between the two choices, the answer should be number 1: The temple is only a few minutes drive away from the station.

However, there is debate as to whether or not there should be an apostrophe after minutes. Some believe that minutes should instead be minutes'.

You can view the discussion on this topic here:
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