An adjective is a word to describe a noun. Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the first noun “acts as” an adjective.
Adjective/noun: happy boy, clever girl, smart worker
“Noun as adjective”/noun: plastic bottle, glass cover, bird cage
Rules of nouns as adjectives
The “noun as adjective” will always come first, the second noun is the subject matter. Once you understand this rule, you will understand the meaning of a sentence.
A race dog is a dog that runs in races
A dog race is a race for dogs
A toy house is a toy in the shape of a house
A house toy is a toy for playing in the house, can be any type of toys
A lighthouse is a beacon
A house light is any lighting unit in the house
Just like a real adjective, the “noun as adjective” is invariable. It is usually in the singular form. If there is a plural it is on the real noun only.
Correct Usage
Toothbrush/Toothbrushes
Plastic bottle/Plastic bottles
Bird cage/Bird cages
Incorrect Usage
Teethbrush/Teethbrushes
Plastics bottle/Plastics bottles
Birds cage/Birds cages
A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (e.g. news, billiards, athletics, sports, clothes, accounts). When we use these nouns “as adjectives” they are unchanged:
news report/news reports, billiards table/billiards tables, athletics game/athletics games, sports article/sports articles, clothes line/clothes lines, accounts clerk/accounts clerks
Writing “nouns as adjectives”
We write the “noun as adjective” with the real noun in 3 different ways:
In two separate words (apple pie)
In two hyphenated words (tax-plan)
In one word (football)
There is no fixed rule for this. We sometimes use all the three different ways to write on single “noun as adjective” e.g. head master, head-master, headmaster
The rules of style that apply to dashes and hyphens have evolved to support ease of reading in complex constructions; editors often accept deviations from them that will support, rather than hinder, ease of reading.
Saying “nouns as adjectives”
We always emphasize on the first noun that is the “noun in adjective” when speaking.
More than one “nouns as adjectives”
We can use more than one “noun as adjectives” to describe a noun, just like we do in adjectives e.g “China team badminton coach”
Combined “ nouns as adjectives” with adjectives
We can also combine adjective with “noun as adjective” to better describe a noun e.g. “the cute Italian football player”
Adjective/noun: happy boy, clever girl, smart worker
“Noun as adjective”/noun: plastic bottle, glass cover, bird cage
Rules of nouns as adjectives
The “noun as adjective” will always come first, the second noun is the subject matter. Once you understand this rule, you will understand the meaning of a sentence.
A race dog is a dog that runs in races
A dog race is a race for dogs
A toy house is a toy in the shape of a house
A house toy is a toy for playing in the house, can be any type of toys
A lighthouse is a beacon
A house light is any lighting unit in the house
Just like a real adjective, the “noun as adjective” is invariable. It is usually in the singular form. If there is a plural it is on the real noun only.
Correct Usage
Toothbrush/Toothbrushes
Plastic bottle/Plastic bottles
Bird cage/Bird cages
Incorrect Usage
Teethbrush/Teethbrushes
Plastics bottle/Plastics bottles
Birds cage/Birds cages
A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (e.g. news, billiards, athletics, sports, clothes, accounts). When we use these nouns “as adjectives” they are unchanged:
news report/news reports, billiards table/billiards tables, athletics game/athletics games, sports article/sports articles, clothes line/clothes lines, accounts clerk/accounts clerks
Writing “nouns as adjectives”
We write the “noun as adjective” with the real noun in 3 different ways:
In two separate words (apple pie)
In two hyphenated words (tax-plan)
In one word (football)
There is no fixed rule for this. We sometimes use all the three different ways to write on single “noun as adjective” e.g. head master, head-master, headmaster
The rules of style that apply to dashes and hyphens have evolved to support ease of reading in complex constructions; editors often accept deviations from them that will support, rather than hinder, ease of reading.
Saying “nouns as adjectives”
We always emphasize on the first noun that is the “noun in adjective” when speaking.
More than one “nouns as adjectives”
We can use more than one “noun as adjectives” to describe a noun, just like we do in adjectives e.g “China team badminton coach”
Combined “ nouns as adjectives” with adjectives
We can also combine adjective with “noun as adjective” to better describe a noun e.g. “the cute Italian football player”
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