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Last year, the United Nations security council adopted four sanctions solutions seeking to deprive North Korea of key sources...

I was taught that “attributive noun” can only be in a single form not plural.

Could you please tell me how this works?

  • when could we make (the attributive noun) plural?

Attributive noun

Bavyan Yaldo
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    I'd not say that either four sanctions solutions or four sanction solutions sounds all that natural. '... four solutions, each involving sanctions ...'. // You should have been taught that 'In English, attributive nouns are very often singular rather than plural in form'. The exceptions can be perplexing (donkey sanctuary but dogs home), or sometimes useful (After a long and excellent dinner, he decided to visit a singles bar that evening.). – Edwin Ashworth Jan 15 '18 at 15:12
  • I forgot to add the source. It is an article on NEW YORK TIMES. @EdwinAshworth – Bavyan Yaldo Jan 15 '18 at 15:15
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    It doesn't matter if it was in ACGEL. If it states 'In English, attributive nouns are always singular rather than plural in form' it's incorrect. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 15 '18 at 15:17
  • Look into this link, it tells us that when we use the plural attributive noun, it acts like an adjective; additionally, we cannot have it with a apostrophe @EdwinAshworth https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-attributive-noun-1689012 – Bavyan Yaldo Jan 15 '18 at 22:58
  • Have you bothered to read Cerberus's answer at the duplicate question? 'Acts like an adjective' does not mean 'becomes an adjective', and I can't find this in the Nordquist article in any case. Your linked article is also over-prescriptivist; The Long Island Writers' Guild and the The Harlem Writers Guild choose different styles. As do The Manchester Dogs Home and The Manchester and Cheshire Dogs' Home. This is discussed in a more balanced way here. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 15 '18 at 23:34
  • ... You seem to have glossed over ' "It is normal that the first or attributive noun of a sequence will be singular," says Geoffrey Leech. "Yet studies of recent English . . . have noted the apparently increasing variety of formations with a plural attributive noun" (Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study, 2010)....

    Examples include "sports car," "women leaders," and "animal rights campaign." '

     – Edwin Ashworth Jan 15 '18 at 23:38

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