Part 6: Identifying Grammar Errors

Grammar: Adjectives, Compound (with numbers)

Perhaps one of the most confusing points for second language learners of English is the use of numerical compound adjectives.

Generally speaking, when we see a number before a noun, the noun is in the plural case. However, it must be remembered that nouns preceded by a number are sometimes used before other nouns. Some examples of correct and incorrect usage include:

wrong	right	alternative right
a two legs animal	a two-legged animal	an animal with two legs
a three stars hotel	a three-star hotel	.
a four hours class	a four-hour class	a class of four hours
a 100 dollars bill	a 100 dollar bill	.
a million miles journey	a million-mile journey	a journey of a million miles

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A few other points to consider:

• 1) Numbers are usually spelled out if:

  Rule:	Example:
  a) they start a sentence.	Nineteen students came to class yesterday.
  b) they are less than 10 (unless they refer to a measurement, money or time).	At 7 PM the 7-inch hats were sold for $7 at all seven stores.
  c) they follow another spelled out number.	Forty or fifty people attended the party.
  d) they are a fraction.	Four-fifths of the earthıs surface is covered with water.
  e) they precede a compound adjective between 1 and 100.	Make that seventy 7-inch hats were sold.

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• 2) Numbers are usually used if:

  Rule:	Example:
  a) they are 10 or over.	Last year, 52 employees at our company achieved their goal on the TOEIC.
  b) refer to measurements, money or time.	I heard that 2 hours ago they sold 750 ml Bottles of wine for 5 yen to celebrate their anniversary.
  c) they are addresses (except One)	1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a fairly famous address.
  d) they are statistical; percentages, percentiles, proportions, etc.	Anyone with a test score in the upper 2 percentile may apply for membership in Mensa.

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• 3) Ordinals, when they are not spelled out, usually use a suffix, such as st - 1st, nd - 2nd, rd or d 3rd or 3d (note: Teachers and books vary on this. Both are used.)

a/b/c/d .

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