I need to know which of these sentences is right ?
My room light doesn't work.
or
My room's light doesn't work.
Asked
Active
Viewed 140 times
0
-
The first one sounds more natural but you could argue that room-light should be hyphenated when written. The second is grammatically correct. – Nov 27 '13 at 14:54
-
related: Is it correct to say “I write children books” (not possessive case)? – Matt E. Эллен Nov 27 '13 at 16:15
-
related: Confusion with possessives – Matt E. Эллен Nov 27 '13 at 16:17
2 Answers
2
The second sentence is definitely correct.
The first sentence is also correct. In that sentence, room is a noun modifier applied to light:
We often use two nouns together to show that one thing is a part of something else:
the village church; the car door; the kitchen window; the chair leg; my coat pocket;
Much like the kitchen window means the window that is part of the kitchen, the phrase my room light can mean my light that is part of my room.
1
Both are grammatically correct, except that in the first case you need a hyphen. But I would probably say 'The light in my room's not working'. It is just a case of local usages, personal preferences etc.
WS2
- 64,657
-
+1 That or the second option; "room light", while technically correct, sounds stilted to me. – anotherdave Nov 27 '13 at 19:10