noun as adjective

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Believer  #486905  Mon, 10 Mar 08 09:11 AM

Hi,

Can a person use a noun with an availble standard adjectival form, which he might not realize the existence of it, can use the noun as an adjective and be considered OK?

person tutors  vs. personal tutors

institution problems vs. institutional problems

education materials vs. educational materials

reflection tasks vs. reflective tasks

When is the use of available adjectives necessary or a must? What if a person doesn't know the existence of an available adjective? I do admit that those sets of examples seem to give somewhat different impressions in respect to their counter parts but I think, to a person without a keen knowledge of their semantic meanings, the overall impression of phrases might not be all that apparent.

  
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CalifJim  #487087  Mon, 10 Mar 08 05:56 PM
Believer

... considered OK?

person tutors  vs. personal tutors

institution problems vs. institutional problems

education materials vs. educational materials

reflection tasks vs. reflective tasks

None of them are OK with the noun.  All of them are OK with the adjective.

Believer
What if a person doesn't know the existence of an available adjective?
Then that person will probably make mistakes.  I think we can agree that the process of learning the adjectives is, after all, part of 'learning the language'.

CJ 

  
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