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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Compound adjectives
A pupil of mine asked me after correcting an exercise : why do we say " a long-lasting journey" but not "long-lasted journey" and if we can do, what difference is there between the two ?
Top answer
Hallo In English, compound adjectives are either by convention or by invention. In other words, you can check them in the dictionary or, if you are bold, you can invent them - and see if people will understand them I don't think there is any logic to the -ed or -ing ending. A journey can be long-lasting or it can be ill-adivsed.
- Hallo In English, compound adjectives are either by convention or by invention.
- In other words, you can check them in the dictionary or, if you are bold, you can invent them - and see if people will understand them I don't think there is any logic to the -ed or -ing ending.
- A journey can be long-lasting or it can be ill-adivsed.
- A sportsman can be long-legged or record-breaking So I think the answer to your question is that "a long-lasting journey" is correct because that is the usual expresiion However, as a novelist or poet, you might write "I was so glad to come to the end of that long-lasted journey".
- This is not strictly correct but, as said, the compound adjective allows for invention - it depends upon your audience and the effect you are trying to create Best regards, Dave
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2 Answers
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Hallo
In English, compound adjectives are either by convention or by invention. In other words, you can check them in the dictionary or, if you are bold, you can invent them - and see if people will understand them
I don't think there is any logic to the -ed or -ing ending. A journey can be long-lasting or it can be ill-adivsed. A sportsman can be long-legged or record-breaking
In English, compound adjectives are either by convention or by invention. In other words, you can check them in the dictionary or, if you are bold, you can invent them - and see if people will understand them
I don't think there is any logic to the -ed or -ing ending. A journey can be long-lasting or it can be ill-adivsed. A sportsman can be long-legged or record-breaking
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Well here are the rules, or rather, the explanations on how to form compound adjectives but you may have found them out by now.
1) The description involves a verb taking a direct object, e.g.
I have a plant that eats meat = I have a meat-eating plant
2) The description involves a verb, usually about something t
1) The description involves a verb taking a direct object, e.g.
I have a plant that eats meat = I have a meat-eating plant
2) The description involves a verb, usually about something t
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