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Knowledgeseeker88 Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
Noun or adjective
Hi, I am new here. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place. 
Here I have three phrases:
The university guard is...
The Chinese Embassy is located ...
The Japanese economics professor...
Can anyone please tell me whether the underlined words are noun or adjective? University on its own is a noun but when you put it in front another noun, does it considered to be describing the noun, thus becomes an adjective? Thanks in advance.
Here I have three phrases:
The university guard is...
The Chinese Embassy is located ...
The Japanese economics professor...
Can anyone please tell me whether the underlined words are noun or adjective? University on its own is a noun but when you put it in front another noun, does it considered to be describing the noun, thus becomes an adjective? Thanks in advance.
Top answer
Welcome to EF, Kseeker. You should be careful to distinguish form from function. I myself like to write it out like the following, to avoid any confusion by the reader: The university guard -- noun used as adjective The Chinese Embassy -- adjective used as adjective (the noun is China , unless you are speaking of the people) The Japanese economics professor -- noun used as adjective cf: Running is a healthy hobby -- verb used as noun The rich get richer -- adjective used as noun
- Welcome to EF, Kseeker.
- You should be careful to distinguish form from function.
- I myself like to write it out like the following, to avoid any confusion by the reader: The university guard -- noun used as adjective The Chinese Embassy -- adjective used as adjective (the noun is China , unless you are speaking of the people) The Japanese economics professor -- noun used as adjective cf: Running is a healthy hobby -- verb used as noun The rich get richer -- adjective used as noun
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2 Answers
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Welcome to EF, Kseeker. You should be careful to distinguish form from function. I myself like to write it out like the following, to avoid any confusion by the reader:
The university guard -- noun used as adjective
The Chinese Embassy -- adjective used as adjective (the noun is China, unless you are speaking of the people)
The
The university guard -- noun used as adjective
The Chinese Embassy -- adjective used as adjective (the noun is China, unless you are speaking of the people)
The
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