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🔗 Compendium
Grammar
EN
English — Compound and noun-noun combinations
English often turns one noun into a modifier of another: a bus stop, a shoe shop. The first noun acts like an adjective and stays singular, even when the meaning is plural.
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How it works
✓ Rule
In a noun-noun combination the first noun modifies the second and stays singular: a bus stop (a stop for buses), a shoe shop, a five-year-old boy. To show possession or a link to people, use the 's form: a children's book, a women's magazine.
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Examples
| Form | Structure | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a bus stop | noun + noun, first singular | a stop for buses |
| a shoe shop | noun + noun, first singular | a shop that sells shoes |
| a five-year-old boy | number + noun, singular in compound | a boy who is five years old |
| a toothbrush | closed compound (written as one word) | a brush for the teeth |
| a children's book | 's compound (irregular plural + 's) | a book for children |
| a women's magazine | 's compound (irregular plural + 's) | a magazine for women |
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Good to know
⚠ Note
Keep the first noun singular even when the sense is plural: say a shoe shop and a three-hour trip, not "a shoes shop" or "a three-hours trip". A few nouns keep their plural (a sports car, a clothes shop), and irregular plurals of people take 's (a children's book, a men's room).