Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[el7jake]

Which is more correct and why? souvenir shop or souvenirs shop

ELJake

[tyreless]

Hello el7jake

I made a quick frequency search on google. Here the results:
"souvenirs shop" 34.000 hits versus "souvenir shop" 1 million hits.

I can't think of a reason for this other than souvenir shops always sell more than one souvenir and in spoken language "souvenirs shop" might be understood as "souvenir's shop". This would imply that the shop is owned by the souvenirs.

Compare "car dealership", "vegetable shop", "wine shop", telephone shop", "computer shop"

and exception would be "clothes shop" for a shop that sells clothes. "Cloth shop" exists, but is a shop that sells cloth . That is the textiles used to make clothes.
Does that help
David
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[Lorikeet]

In general, when a noun is used like an adjective, it doesn't use the plural form. That's why we have: bookstore, shoe store, grocery store, etc.

It is a similar rule that results in the following:

a two-hour class
a four-year-old child
a thirty-five cent stamp
a seventeen-week semester.

[rice07]

Hi

let's see what Practical English Usage said over these points:

1. Many common ideas in English are expressed by noun + noun compounds. In this structure, the first noun modifies or describes the second, a little like an adjective. Compare:

- milk chocolate (a kind of chocolate)
- chocolate milk (a kind of milk)

2-1. Note that the first noun is usually singular in form, even if it has a plural meaning.

- a shoe shop (= a shop that sells shoes)
- a horse race (= a race for horses)
- trouser pockets (= pockets in trousers)

2-2. exceptions

Some nouns are plural in this structure. These include nouns which have no singular form (like clothes), nouns which are not used in the singular with the same meaning (like customs), and some nouns which are more often used in the plural than in singular (like savings). In some cases, e.g. antique(s), drug(s), usage is divided, and both singular and plural forms are found. In general, plurals are becomimg more common in this structure. Examples:

a clothes shop
a glasses case
a customs officer
arms control
a savings account
a drinks cabinet
a goods train (British English)
a sports car
a greeting(s) card
an antique(s) dealer / shop
the drug(s) problem
the arrival(s) hall (at an airport)
the accounts department
the sales department
the outpatients department (of a hospital)

Note also that singular nouns ending in -ics can be used before other nouns.

athletics training
an economics degree

We use the plurals men and women to modify plural nouns when they have a ' subject ' meaning; man and woman are used to express an ' object ' meaning. Compare:

men drivers (= men who drive)
women pilots (= women who fly planes)

man-eaters (= lions or tigers that eat people)
woman-haters (= people who hate womam)

[tyreless]

Thanks Lorikeet and rice07. Good answer to have ready when a similar question turns up.
David
_________________
Consume less - live more