I am confused by the grammatical structure of the simple phrase "language skills" and other similar phrases with two consequentive nouns. "Language" is defined as only being a noun, yet in the phrase it appears to be playing the role of an adjective, and, if so, does that mean a good number of nouns are also adjectives?
Would someone please explain what is going on here.
Noun adjuncts are extremely common in English. This is when a noun is used to modify another noun. The noun does not become an adjective, though.
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
Noun adjuncts are extremely common in English. This is when a noun is used to modify another noun. The noun does not become an adjective, though. Adjectives have comparative and superlative forms and they can be modified by an adverb such as very.
If two nouns become frequently used this way, it can evolve into a compound noun: e.g. lighthouse, firefighter, chalkboard, sunrise and