Incredible predator...interaction
This morning I watched Safari Live transmission on YouTube. And one of the safari guide reported a stand-off between a leopard and a pack of hyenas. In short, hyenas had stolen the leopard kill and leopard claimed back some of the kill.
Then the guide said: "incredible predator...[some suspension here]... interaction".
First I thought that the guide was saying about the leopard, "incredible predator" (he was alone vs many hyenas) but after that suspension he added "interaction", hence the noun phrase "incredible predator interaction".
My question is: do natives know in advance, after some sort of intonation, unrecognizable to me, that "predator" is rather a noun in attributive position and expect another noun (wait for another word to be added), here "interaction", to be the head of the phrase?
Top answer
tkacka15 a leopard and a pack of hyenas. They are both predators.
- tkacka15 a leopard and a pack of hyenas.
- They are both predators.
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I can only judge this by the exact words you quoted.
"incredible predator" is not possible because a singular common count noun requires a determiner. A native speaker picks up on this, albeit unconsciously, so he waits for the next word. As it turns out, "interaction" has a non-countable interpretation, so the problem is neatly resolved; both "incredible" and "predator" are modifiers.
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