Noun modifiers
We often use two nouns together to show that one thing is a part of something else:
- the village church
- the car door
- the kitchen window
- the chair leg
- my coat pocket
- London residents
In these examples, the first noun is called a noun modifier.
We do not use a possessive form for these things. We do NOT talk about:
- the car's door
- the kitchen's window
- the chair's leg
We can use noun modifiers to show what something is made of:
- a gold watch
- a leather purse
- a metal box
We often use noun modifiers with nouns ending in –er:
- an office worker
- a jewellery maker
- a potato peeler
We use measurements, age or value as noun modifiers:
- a thirty-kilogram suitcase
- a two-minute rest
- a five-thousand-euro platinum watch
- a fifty-kilometre journey
We often use nouns ending in -ing as noun modifiers:
- a shopping list
- a swimming lesson
- a walking holiday
- a washing machine
We often put two nouns together and readers/listeners have to work out what they mean:
- an ice bucket
- (= a bucket to keep ice in)
- an ice cube
- (= a cube made of ice)
- an ice breaker
- (= a ship which breaks ice)
- the ice age
- (= the time when much of the Earth was covered in ice)
Sometimes we find more than two nouns together:
- London office workers
- grammar practice exercises
Noun modifiers come after adjectives:
- the old newspaper seller
- a tiring fifty-kilometre journey