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Constituent nouns in compound nouns

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Latest post Mon, Mar 24 2008 6:27 AM by CalifJim. 2 replies.
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Infinik  +  492303 Mon, 24 Mar 08 06:02 AM

Hi, grammar experts

 Got a question on compound nouns, particular the effect of singularity of one of/each constituent nouns in the compound noun: would the following two be different in meanings?

file-management system

files-management system

Plus, if one of these is (or both can be?) meant to describe a system that manipulates lots of files in a digital environment, then which one(s)?

 

infinik
Infinik
Joined on Mon, Jan 14 2008
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Infinik  +  492306 Mon, 24 Mar 08 06:26 AM

Just thought of a third option, which is quite common too:

file management system (i.e. without hyphen)
Infinik
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CalifJim  +  492307 Mon, 24 Mar 08 06:27 AM
The singular is used in these cases, even when it may mean something plural.

Use file management system even if the system manages more than one file (as they almost always do).

CJ 
CalifJim
Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member 22,128
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