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NazAf
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 6
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 Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 7:15 pm Post subject: NEW Grammar question |
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Hi,
If I want to tell someone to write down names of all students, then which one of the following is the correct sentence:
1. Write down student names.
2. Write down students names.
Last edited by NazAf on Sat May 09, 2009 6:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
If I want to tell someone to write down names of all students, then which one of the following is the correct sentence:
1. Write down student names.
2. Write down students names. |
If these are the only choices (and I hope that's not the case), use 1. Write down student names. When we use a noun to modify another noun, we usually use the singular form. This is OK, but how about a couple of other possibilities:
Write down students' names. (Note the apostrophe to indicate possession.)
Write down the students' names. (An article would be nice.)
Write down all the students' names. (A little added emphasis.)
Write down the names of all the students. (Variety is the spice of life. My personal favorite.)
Hope this helps.
Greg
P.S. If you don't ask for suggestions, you may not get any. |
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NazAf
Joined: 01 May 2009
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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No, these are not the only choices. In fact, I always see version (1), I have never seen version (2) at all. But I though that student names was incorrect supposing that one student has only one name (not names). However, if you say it is acceptable, then I suppose this applies to all nouns, doesn't it?
Which one would be the most correct? students' names?
By the way, I saw that you used an apostrophe to indicate possession. However, I have seen many examples without apostrophe, and that really confuses me. Consider the following two examples, I would appreciate your help:
1. She gave me her phone number. 3. Adams is her family name.
Many thanks!! |
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dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| But I though that student names was incorrect supposing that one student has only one name (not names). |
The confusion arises because people don't think about this in the right way. When you say student names, don't think of it as one student. Think of the word student as a noun wearing its adjective hat. It's just a noun modifying a noun:
Names? What kind of names? Oh, student names.
| Quote: |
However, if you say it is acceptable, then I suppose this applies to all nouns, doesn't it?
Which one would be the most correct? students' names? |
When you say I suppose this applies to all nouns, I'm not quite sure what you mean. All is a dangerous word. It is very common in English to use a noun to modify another noun, and when a noun is wearing its adjective hat, we usually use the singular form. As is usually the case in English, however, there are plenty of exceptions. I am sorry to report that there is no single rule that will guide you to the perfect answer in every case.
If someone asked me to transcribe the spoken sentence Write down the students names, I would automatically include the apostrophe. I would assume that it's not the plural form of the noun being used to modify the noun. I would instinctively transcribe it as the possessive with an apostrophe (students').
| Quote: |
| 1. She gave me her phone number. |
Yes, correct.
Correct, but it could be either way. If there is a certain dog in question and we are talking about the eye of that dog, then we would be inclined to use the possessive dog's. If it's just an isolated eyeball that happens to come from a member of the class of animals that we refer to as dogs, then we would just use the noun dog to modify eye.
| Quote: |
| 3. Adams is her family name. |
Yes, correct.
Hope this helps.
Greg |
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