20 minutes' break

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Teo

#203562 Mon, 06 Mar 06 05:17 AM

1. Take a 20 minutes' break.

2. Take 20 minutes' break.

3. Take a 20-minute break.

4. That's a 20 minutes' delay.

5. That's 20 minutes' delay.

6. That's a 20-minute delay.

Which of the above sentences is not acceptable?

Teo

Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004

Taiwan

Contributing Member (1,619)

Thank you very much for your reply.

Goodman

#203571 Mon, 06 Mar 06 06:04 AM

Your question: Which of the above sentences is not acceptable?

Well, Let me answers it in another way. The only accpetable answers are #3 and 6

Goodman

Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005

Calif. USA

Senior Member (3,243)

The name says it all!

Clive

#203573 Mon, 06 Mar 06 06:06 AM

Hi,

1. Take a 20 minutes' break. No

2. Take 20 minutes' break. OK

3. Take a 20-minute break.OK, very common

4. That's a 20 minutes' delay. No

5. That's 20 minutes' delay. OK

6. That's a 20-minute delay. OK, very common

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (22,150)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

CalifJim

#203599 Mon, 06 Mar 06 07:16 AM

See post Post:188873

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (17,477)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

paco2004

#203613 Mon, 06 Mar 06 08:04 AM

Hello Teo

The rule is "English nouns cannot be modified by more than one determiner".

a (5 minutes)' walk :
    "a" is a determiner, "(5 minutes)'" is a determiner (not OK)
(5 minutes)' walk :
    "(5 minutes)'s" is a determiner (OK)
a 5-minute walk
    "a" is a determiner, "5-minute" is an adjective. (OK)

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Nouns, Determiners

Teo

#205647 Mon, 13 Mar 06 04:21 AM

There's a girls' high school near here.

Teo

pieanne

#205704 Mon, 13 Mar 06 10:14 AM

Hello!

I'm quite puzzled, because my grammar states that "a ten minutes' break" and " a thirty miles' drive" are quite correct... Thinking [8-)]

pieanne

Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005

South of France ...But I'm Belgian!

Veteran Member (7,512)

I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

Grammar

paco2004

#205826 Mon, 13 Mar 06 06:28 PM

Hello Teo and Pieanne

"There's a girls' high school near here". This "girls'" is a "descriptive genitive" according to the terms used by some grammarians. Unlike the possessive s-genitive, the descriptive genitive behaves like an adjective rather than like a determiner so that it can be compatible with a (central) determiner. So we might say like "There are three excellent girls' high schools in Tokyo".

The genitives in "a ten minutes' break" and " a thirty miles' drive" are called as "genitive of measure". As to the genitive of measure, Quirk mentions nothing about whether it behaves as an adjective or as a determiner. But actually it is likely most native speakers are avoiding the adjectival use of the genitive of measure. For example, google-wise 12500 people are saying "three X minute lectures" but only 128 people are saying "three X minutes lectures" or "three X minutes' lectures".

paco

paco2004