Line英会話クラス

Lesson Plan January 6, 2023

Topic: Noun + Noun

In this lesson we will be looking at noun + noun combinations.

Section A

You can use two nouns together (noun + noun) to mean one thing / person / idea etc.

• a tennis ball

• income tax

• the city centre

The first noun is like an adjective, it tells us what kind of thing / person / idea etc

• a tennis ball = a ball used to play tennis

• a bus driver = a driver of a bus

• a road accident = an accident that happens on the road

• income tax = tax that you pay on your income

• the city centre = the centre of the city

• a Paris hotel = a hotel in Paris

• my life story = the story of my life

So you can say …

• a television camera / a television programme / a television studio / a television producer

  • These are all different things or people to do with television

• language problems / marriage problems / health problems / work problems

  • These are all different kinds of problems

Compare:

• garden vegetables = vegetables that are grown in a garden

• a vegetable garden = a garden where vegetables are grown

Sometimes the first word ends in -ing; usually these are things we use for doing something

• a frying pan = a pan for frying

• a washing machine

• a swimming pool

Sometimes there are more than two nouns together

• I waited at the hotel reception desk.

• We watched the World Swimming Championships on television.

• If you want to play table tennis, you need a table tennis table.

Section B

When two nouns are together like this, sometimes we write them as one word and sometimes as two separate words; there are no clear rules for this, if you are unsure write two words

• a headache / toothpaste / a weekend / a car park / a road sign

Section C

Note the different between these combinations

• a sugar bowl = a bowl used for sugar, maybe empty

• a bowl of sugar = a bowl with sugar in it

• a shopping bag = a bag used for shopping, maybe empty

• a bag of shopping = a bag full of shopping

Section D

When we use noun + noun, the first noun is like an adjective. It is normally singular, but the meaning is often plural.

• A bookshop is a shop where you can buy books.

• An apple tree is a tree that has apples.

In the same way we say …

• a three-hour journey = a journey that takes three hours

• a ten-dollar bill (NOT dollars)

• a four-week course (NOT weeks)

• a six-kilometre walk (NOT kilometres)

• two 14-year-old girls (NOT years)

Compare

• It was a four-week course.

  • BUT: The course lasted four weeks.

Lesson Notes

• I got together with friends for New Year’s Day. (NOT for a New Year’s Day)

• Lucas cooked Beef Wellington, it’s a fillet of beef coated with mushroom pate, wrapped in prosciutto, then wrapped in puff pastry and baked in the oven.

• We make the mushroom pate ourselves, but we buy the puff pastry from Picard, a French frozen food shop.

Study these sentences (see rules and examples below)

• Can I fill my water bottle here, please? (Correct)

• A boy on a bike ran into me in the park and hurt my leg. (NOT boy’s bike)

• A boy’s bike is a bicycle for boys.

• I never sit at the front of the bus. (NOT bus’s front; we don’t use ’S for non-living things)

• Make sure you close the bathroom curtains when you take a shower. (NOT bathroom’s curtains; everyday item)

• The beginning of the movie was really slow, but it got more interesting after a little while. (NOT the movie’s beginning; we don’t use ’S for non-living things)

• Harry’s house is just around the corner. (NOT the house of Harry; we use ’S for a person)

• The kitchen door was open, and the cat got out and ran away. (NOT the kitchen’s door; everyday item)

• We need to have a meeting about the new product. (NOT the new product meeting)

• We’ve got three patio chairs, is that enough? (NOT three chairs of the patio; everyday item)

• You can find Mr Hall in the teachers’ office. (Correct; there are several teachers, so the apostrophe follows the plural -s)

Rules and Examples

There are several ways to put nouns together in English. Here are some examples and some rules

• My wife and middle child Hannah are sitting together at the kitchen table.

• There’s a pencil holder on the tables because Hannah really likes drawing.

• My wife has always got a coffee cup with her.

• In the picture frame on the wall is another photo that Grace took

We use noun + noun phrases for some everyday items that we often talk about.

In these phrases the main noun is the second noun, the other noun has the same function as an adjective.

• They’re writing a story about a rabbit. (NOT a rabbit story)

• They call me “the man with the knife” because I do most of the cooking for the family. (NOT the knife man)

• The child on the counter next to me is Ben, our youngest. (NOT the counter child)

When something is more unusual, we use a prepositional phrase to describe it.

• They’re working on my wife’s laptop.

• They write lots of stories using Hannah’s ideas.

We use ‘+s to show that something belongs to someone. This punctuation is called an apostrophe.

We can use this form for things that belong to people, animals, countries, organizations or groups of living things.

• My parents’ bedroom is on the left.

When the owners are plural, we put the punctuation after the final -s.

• At that time, the back wall of the house was red brick.

When something belongs to or is related to a non-living thing, we use the preposition of; the name of the street, the top of the page, the bottom of the sea.