fast food giant or giant....

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Anonymous  #470281  Tue, 29 Jan 08 06:00 PM

This is an extract from euronews web site:

The British arm of the fast-food giant McDonald's said it would be ...

Why dont we say giant fast-food?!please explain!?

thanks a lot

  
Doll  #470282  Tue, 29 Jan 08 06:07 PM

my try: 

Here fast-food giant means: one of the factories (McDonalds) which is a leader among this kind of business (selling fast-food). 

If you say giant fast-food, you mean that fast foos is giant itself. Smile [:)]

  
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Clive  #470336  Tue, 29 Jan 08 09:42 PM

Hi guys,

The British arm of the fast-food giant McDonald's said it would be ...

Why dont we say giant fast-food?!please explain!?

Let me try to explain in another way.

Let's add two commas to show the structure of the sentence more clearly.

The British arm of the fast-food giant, McDonald's, said it would be ...

'Giant' and 'McDonald's are both nouns, in apposition. 'Fast-food' here is an adjective that describes the noun 'giant'.

If you say The British arm of the fast-food giant McDonald's said it would be ..., you are using 'fast-food' and 'giant' as adjectives that describe the proper noun 'McDonald's.' That's correct grammar, but it really doesn't make much sense to talk about 'the fast-food McDonald's' or 'the giant McDonald's'.

Best wishes, Clive

  
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Doll  #470344  Tue, 29 Jan 08 10:05 PM
Thanks Clive.Big Smile [:D]
  
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