Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

(1)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4681868/Female-prison-officer-ran-lucrative-drugs-racket-inside-jail.html
----->
A female prison officer ran a lucrative drugs racket inside a London jail and took up to a dozen orders a day from an inmate using a smuggled mobile phone, a court heard.

(2)
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/542968/-/u331c3/-/index.html
----->
Kenyan police have smashed a drug racket operating in Kenya and Tanzania and arrested two suspects including a former Mungiki leader.

I am not sure about the difference between "drugs racket" and "a drug racket." Is the "s" in "drugs racket" plural? If so, why did the author write "a"?

Thank you in advance.

[dragn]

Hi,

Very good question. Just for reference, note that the first quote about a lucrative drugs racket came from the website of the Telegraph, a British newspaper. The second quote about smashing a drug racket came from the website of the Daily Nation, a leading newspaper in Kenya.

First off, relax. There is no difference in meaning whatsoever. Yes, the s indicates the plural. In both cases, the article a is there for the singular noun racket, and has nothing to do with the words drug or drugs.

The principle is that when a countable noun or a phrase containing a countable noun is used to modify another noun (or, as I am fond of saying, when a noun is wearing its adjective hat), the singular form is usually used. For example:

� He's not a dogs catcher; he's a dog catcher
� Tommy is not a ten-years-old boy; he's a ten-year-old boy.
� You don't buy books at a books shop; you buy them at a book shop.

However, this rule is not universally applied. There are exceptions where we keep the plural form, often because the singular form has a different meaning or usage that could be confusing. For example:

� You don't put your glasses in a glass case; you put them in a glasses case. (Glass makes it sound like the case is made of glass.)
� The Soviet Union and the U.S. weren't involved in an arm race; they were involved in an arms race. (Uhh, arm wrestling?)
� You don't buy clothes at a clothe store; you buy them at a clothes store. (Clothe is a verb, and a cloth store sounds like a place where you'd buy material to make clothes.)

In addition, there are no doubt a few examples that can go both ways, perhaps varying from region to region. For example, there may be areas in the U.S. where you might hear somebody say pants leg. It could happen. I'm from the Midwest, and I say pant leg. No big deal.

Now, as an American from the Midwest, I would say drug racket every single time, no exceptions. It seems, however, that there are places in the world where saying drugs racket is acceptable.

I guess I'll just have to make my private peace with that.

Hope this helps.

Greg