{"id":2545,"date":"2018-11-30T01:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/?p=2545"},"modified":"2019-05-20T16:34:54","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T07:34:54","slug":"simon-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/simon-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Modifying Nouns – Are you doing it correctly?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hello this is Simon,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Today, I’m going to talk modifying nouns. It sounds boring, but it is something that a lot of students have trouble with. Below is a short piece with examples of common mistakes I often encounter.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

How many can you spot?<\/p>\n

\n

“This morning, I took an interview test of Eiken. Even though I have experience, more than five years, I was still nervous, so last night I prayed at a temple which is local.\u00a0It was a 50 minutes train ride to the test center, so I did practice for listening on the train. The test was held in a\u00a0200 years old university’s building.\u00a0My interviewer was an American young tall man.\u00a0He was a person who was very kind and helpful.\u00a0The first question was about a picture of\u00a0a Japanese ancient wooden carving…”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The mistakes in this makes it difficult to read. It doesn’t flow very well. However it can be easily fixed by looking at these three important points<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. The Main Noun<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0“an interview test<\/strong> of Eiken”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The most common mistake is to put the modifying words after the main noun. The above example describes a kind of test, so test is the main noun. It should go at the end of the sequence:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“an interview test<\/strong> of Eiken”<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0>>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“an Eiken interview test<\/strong>“<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“experience<\/strong>, more than five years”<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 >>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“more than five years experience<\/strong>” **<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a\u00a0temple<\/strong> which is local”<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0>>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a local temple<\/strong>“<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“practice<\/strong> for listening”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 >>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“listening practice<\/strong>“<\/em><\/div>\n
\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 “a person<\/strong> who was very kind and helpful”<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0>>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a very kind and helpful person<\/strong>“<\/em><\/p>\n

Notice how the expressions usually become shorter. You can eliminate unnecessary prepositions and relative pronouns. Above all, the word order is more natural, making it easier to read.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

2.\u00a0Modifiers (Nouns and Numbers)<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a 50 minutes<\/strong> train ride”<\/em><\/p>\n

When modifying words with nouns or numbers, there are few basic rules:<\/div>\n
    \n
  • \n
    Plural modifiers should be in singular form.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Multiple noun (or number) modifiers should be joined with a hyphen.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Possessive “s” shouldn’t be used.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a 50 minutes\u00a0train<\/strong> ride”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0>>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a 50-minute\u00a0train<\/strong> ride”<\/em><\/div>\n
    \n

    \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a\u00a0200 years old university’s<\/strong> building”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 >>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a\u00a0200-year-old university<\/strong>\u00a0building<\/em><\/p>\n

    **\u00a0 (In the expression\u00a0“more than five years experience” the plural “s” is used because it is short for “five years of experience” as opposed to “a five-year experience”)<\/div>\n
    \n

     <\/p>\n

    3.\u00a0Modifiers (Adjectives)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>“an American young<\/strong> man”<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n

    Multiple adjectives should be written in a specific order.\u00a0Below is a table which illustrates this order. It is a rough guide, and of course there are exceptions, but it helps to give an idea. The order goes from left to right:<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“an American young tall<\/strong> man”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0>>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a tall young American<\/strong> man”<\/em><\/div>\n
    \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“a Japanese ancient wooden<\/strong> carving”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 >>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“an ancient Japanese wooden<\/strong> carving”<\/em><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Opinion<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Size<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Age<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Color<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Nationality<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Material<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
    nice<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    little<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    new<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    blue<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    American<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    wooden<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
    interesting<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    big<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    old<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    pink<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Japanese<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    steel<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
    delicious<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    tiny<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    young<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    black<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    Canadian<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    brick<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
    expensive<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    enormous<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    ancient<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    white<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    German<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    stone<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
    cute<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    wide<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    fresh<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    green<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    French<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
    brass<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n

    Now that you know these basic rules, lets put them all together and look that piece again:<\/p>\n

    “This morning, I took an Eiken interview test.\u00a0Even though I have\u00a0more than five years experience, I was still nervous, so last night I prayed at a local temple.\u00a0It was a 50-minute train ride to the test center, so I did listening practice on the train. The test was held in a\u00a0200-year-old university building.\u00a0My interviewer was a tall young American man.\u00a0He was\u00a0a very kind and helpful person.\u00a0The first question was about a picture of\u00a0an ancient Japanese wooden carving…”<\/em><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    It’s a lot easier to read now, isn’t it.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Now, I hope you can put some of these rules to use, when you write your next interesting new English composition<\/strong>!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hello this is Simon, Today, I’m going to talk modifying nouns. It sounds boring, but it is something that a lot of students have trouble with. Below is a short piece with examples of common mist…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[276,5],"tags":[186,215],"class_list":{"0":"post-2545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-native","8":"category-learning","9":"tag-common-mistakes","10":"tag-modifying-nouns","11":"article cf"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2545"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2670,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions\/2670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fruitfulenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}