Mr. Maru: What are you doing Sparky?

Sparky: I'm moving to the big city. I'm selling my things.

Mr. Maru: I see. This is a nice desk.

Sparky: Yes, it's very light. It's a 5 kilograms desk.

Mr. Maru: I like the top.

Sparky: Yes, it has a gold shine. It's very nice.

Mr. Maru: All right. That's very bright. I'll give you $15.

Sparky: Hmm, how about a 20 dollars bill?

Mr. Maru: Um, I'll give you a 20 dollar bill.

Sparky: uh, yeah okay.

Nouns as adjectives can be difficult. They are sometimes called adjective nouns or noun + noun. They have special rules. Today we will learn about some of the rules and how to use them.

Nouns as Adjectives – Measurements

We can add measurements to nouns. We do this by putting the measurement in front of the noun. For example,

a 5 pound laptop (It is a laptop. The laptop weighs 5 pounds.)

a 10 dollar bill (It is a money bill. It is worth 10 dollars.)

Be careful! There are also not regular nouns, too:

a 6 foot man (He is 6 feet tall.)

Nouns as Adjectives – noun and adjective pairs

Some nouns have adjectives with similar meanings. The noun as an adjective means 'made of' the material. For example,

a gold watch (The watch is made of gold.)

a lead pipe (The pipe is made of lead.)

These materials (gold, lead) have similar adjectives. These adjectives describe being similar to the material, but not actually made of the material. For example,

The woman had a golden glow in the sun. (The woman's skin was like or similar to gold. It was shiny and bright. She was not made of gold.)

He had a leaden face after hearing the news. (His face looked heavy like lead. He looked sad. His face was not lead.)

Here are some other pairs:

silk (noun) – silken (adjective)

stone (noun) – stony (adjective)

Are you ready? Think you can take a quick quiz?

Adjective nouns quiz

1) He had a _____ face. He was not going to lose.

A) stone

B) stony

C) stonen

2) I caught a 80 ______ tuna! That was difficult.

A) pound

B) pounds

C) pounder

3) He went to the ____ store. He is going to buy new tennis shoes.

A) shoes

B) shoer

C) shoe

Answers

1. B) stony – A stony face doesn't move.

2. A) pound – The tuna was 80 pounds.

3. C) shoe – adjective nouns are always singular (no -s)

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