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In the word "afternoon tea"(the tea that is served in afternoon) the word 'afternoon' is an uncountable noun as OALD shows.

In the word "English countryside"(the countryside that is in England) the word 'English' becomes adjective.

But why? I can't see the difference in the work these words do.

Other examples are "egg noodles", crocodile shoes", "sports car"

and "double bed", "favourite movies", "paper tiger". (Interestingly OALD does not count "paper" as adjective.)

Can somebody kindly explain me please. Thank you!

Aung Oakkar
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  • You are right in that in these very particular instances, an uncountable noun is being used like an adjective. But those two things have a lot broader uses that hardly ever overlap. – Mitch May 04 '21 at 16:21
  • I'm working on a vocabulary book for age 5 to 8 students. The problem is should I put "English", "double" and "paper" into uncountable noun category or "afternoon" "egg" and "crocodile into adjective category? – Aung Oakkar May 04 '21 at 16:31
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    You need to distinguish form and function. Not everything that modifies a noun is an adjective! – BillJ May 04 '21 at 16:43
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    What you're referring to is called a *noun adjunct*. Sometimes a noun is placed next to another noun and used adjectivally. When that happens, that noun is called a "noun adjunct." – Benjamin Harman May 04 '21 at 16:44
  • A "noun adjunct" is a word that is according to its dictionary definition only a noun, not an adjective, but that is nevertheless an adjective in the context it appears in, other examples you haven't cited including "carpet cleaner," "squad uniform," "dirt floor," and "shoe rack," "carpet," "squad," "dirt," and "shoe," all being, by definition, nouns only, thus all noun adjuncts in those contexts, thus all adjectives in those contexts. – Benjamin Harman May 04 '21 at 16:52
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    A noun (more precisely a nominal) is not an adjective/adjunct in NP structure but a modifier. The term 'adjunct' is used for modifiers in clause structure, or supplements. – BillJ May 04 '21 at 17:05
  • It is never an adjective (or then it's a different word (English things, The English)), but it fulfills the semantic function of one. – LPH May 04 '21 at 17:08
  • In the word "English countryside" the word "English" is an adjective; this word is reckoned with as an adjective, and when placed before a noun it has to be the adjective. In "the England team", "England" is still a noun, but it acts as an adjective; obviously, there is not much difference if you say "the English team". – LPH May 04 '21 at 17:23
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    Nouns that are part of noun compounds can be called anything one likes, and they are. Choose your terminology and fire away. Linguists have been at it since the Sanskrit grammarians distinguished Tatpurusha from Bahuvrihi during the first millennium BC. – John Lawler May 04 '21 at 21:26
  • Thank you all for your comments. The link Edwin Ashworth gave is helpful in some way. I'm confused because in my language, these words are modifier and they are categorize as adjective. So I think I can say all nouns can be adjective. My question is what makes "double, English, favourite, paper" special to define them as adjectives. Someone in the link above said that if you can enhance them with an adverb (too, very), you can count them as adjective. Then can we say "the bed is too double" or "the tiger is very paper"? – Aung Oakkar May 06 '21 at 08:16
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    I can accept that comparable adjectives are adjectives. But what makes non-comparable adjectives to define them as adjective? In my view they are still nouns that can be used as modifiers. – Aung Oakkar May 06 '21 at 08:29

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