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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Learning
Singular noun form as part of compound noun
What is the origin of/reason for the use of the singular (year, inch) in the following expressions:
four year old boy
32-inch color TV's?
Students asked why year was not yearS and inch not inchES.
Thank you.
Howard
four year old boy
32-inch color TV's?
Students asked why year was not yearS and inch not inchES.
Thank you.
Howard
Top answer
[nq:1]What is the origin of/reason for the use of the singular (year, inch) in the following expressions: four year old boy 32-inch color TV's? [/nq] An adequate reason is that this is how it is done in English. This is the idiomatic form.
- [nq:1]What is the origin of/reason for the use of the singular (year, inch) in the following expressions: four year old boy 32-inch color TV's?
- [/nq] An adequate reason is that this is how it is done in English.
- This is the idiomatic form.
- The next level of reason is that in such expressions, the nouns (year, inch) are being used as adjectives, and in English, adjectives take no plural forms; in many other language, however, adjectives must agree in both number and gender with the nouns they modify.
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1 Answers
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[nq:1]What is the origin of/reason for the use of the singular (year, inch) in the following expressions: four year old boy 32-inch color TV's? Students asked why year was not yearS and inch not inchES.[/nq]
An adequate reason is that this is how it is done in English. This is the idiomatic form.
The next level of reason is that in such expressions, the nouns (year, inch) are being u
An adequate reason is that this is how it is done in English. This is the idiomatic form.
The next level of reason is that in such expressions, the nouns (year, inch) are being u
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