Free Grammar Resources | Noun Modifiers

We often use two nouns together to show that one thing is a part of something else

➧ the village mosque
➧ the car door
➧ the kitchen window
➧ the chair leg
➧ my coat pocket
➧ London residents

In these examples, the first noun is called a noun modifier.

We do not use a possessive form for these things. We do not talk about

➧ the car's door ✗

➧ the kitchen's window ✗

➧ the chair's leg ✗

We can use noun modifiers to show what something is made of

➧ a gold watch

➧ a leather purse

➧ a metal box

We often use noun modifiers with nouns ending in –er

➧ an office worker

➧ a jewellery maker

➧ a potato peeler

We use measurements | age | value as noun modifiers

➧ a thirty-kilogram suitcase

➧ a two-minute rest

➧ a five-thousand-euro platinum watch

➧ a fifty-kilometre journey

We often use nouns ending in -ing as noun modifiers

➧ a shopping list

➧ a swimming lesson

➧ a walking holiday

➧ a washing machine

We often put two nouns together and readers|listeners have to work out what they mean

➧ an ice bucket

➧ a bucket to keep ice in

➧ an ice cube

➧ a cube made of ice

➧ an ice breaker

➧ a ship which breaks ice

➧ the ice age

➧ the time when much of the Earth was covered in ice

Sometimes we find more than two nouns together

➧ London office workers

➧ grammar practice exercises

Noun modifiers come after adjectives

➧ the old newspaper seller

➧ a tiring fifty-kilometre journey

More Lessons ➧ Here

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