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I was told that compound modifiers containing a noun should have the noun in the singular, e.g., "a 20-kilometer race" and "a 40-year-old man." Which of the following is okay? A dictionary uses (a). If it's correct, why?

a. They can take their three cents an hour raise and shove it.

b. They can take their three-cent-an-hour raise and shove it.

Note: This is not a question about hyphenation. It's about singular vs. plural forms in compound modifiers.

I understand (over)simplifications are involved in the EFL/ESL world. That's why I posted my question. The situation of the OP sentence is even more puzzling in that it involves a particular number, i.e., three. Examples like "weapons system" are not so incongruous as the OP example in that the former does not have a number.

Even if "three cents an hour" (or "three-cents-an-hour") is okay as an attributive modifier, what is the factual generalization that renders it okay but rules out "a three-years-old boy"?

Apollyon
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  • Unless you're constrained by some specific style guide because of your job or something, this is a stylistic choice. Bear in mind that the modern tendency is for less and/or "lighter" punctuation in English. – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '23 at 13:30
  • We often hyphenate *attributive* multi-word adjectival phrases (that come before the noun - *raise* in your example). Which we never do if it's a *predicative* usage (after the noun), as in The raise is three cents an hour. I note you randomly switched from plural to singular *cent* in your examples (both are fine), but note that the singular doesn't work *at all* in a predicative construction. – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '23 at 13:36
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    Does this answer your question? When do I hyphenate compound nouns used as adjectives? Also Are words like "well-known" spelled with a hyphen in dictionaries? and Should I hyphen the adjective in "night-time ritual"? and Should vertically carved have a hyphen?, among others. – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '23 at 13:39
  • @FumbleFingers This is not a question about hyphenation. It's about singular vs. plural forms. You are not reading the question carefully. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 14:52
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    In that case it's a badly-framed question. Why randomly switch from hyphenated to non-hyphenated in your examples? – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '23 at 15:04
  • @FumbleFingers The hyphenated form is standard in this particular case, at least in US publications. BrE tends to be sloppy in such cases, though. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:21
  • So what? The random inclusion of both versions when that's not what you're interested in makes no sense. Why not simply *remove* the "irrelevancies". Including your final highlighted plaint, which wouldn't have been necessary if you'd either framed the question sensibly in the first place, OR taken on board my previous comment and edited accordingly. – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '23 at 15:25
  • Removing the hyphenation would result in a non-standard form in AmE. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:28
  • Not reading the question carefully before posting a comment makes even less sense. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:30
  • Do you see the dilemma? On the one hand I want to faithfully present the original. On the other, I want to write standard AmE. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:32
  • The only thing I should have done is to write a caveat saying hyphenation is irrevelant. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:36
  • Where do you get this AmE business from?? – Lambie Feb 02 '23 at 15:41
  • Authoritative style guides. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:42
  • I sincerely wish everyone could focus on the question, not the irrelevant detail. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:43
  • Whatever I could have done, there would have been nitpickers. I could imagaine if I had removed the hyphenation in the second example, someone would have said both sentences are poorly presented and distracting because of the lack of hyphenation. If I had used hyphenation in both examples, someone would have accused me of altering the original. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 15:53
  • UK: Workers say that all have been given an extra 20p-an-hour, bringing many of their wages above £10-an-hour for the first time. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10708535/Wetherspoons-staff-receive-20p-hour-pay-rise-taking-hourly-wage-roles-10.html That said, three cents an hour is OK, too. It depends on a style guide; not anything else. – Lambie Feb 02 '23 at 16:14
  • Sadly when English is taught, simplifications are used. Normally singular nouns are used in compounds. But there are many exceptions. The following questions are about simple attributive nouns, but the same principle applies as with phrases; sometimes the plural seems more natural: pensions products, weapons stocks. – Stuart F Feb 02 '23 at 20:42
  • @StuartF Yes, I understand (over)simplifications are involved in the EFL/ESL world. That's why I posted my question. The situation of the OP sentence is even more puzzling in that it involves a particular number, i.e., three. Examples like "weapons system" are not so incongruous as the OP sentence in that the former does not have a number. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 23:27
  • @Lambie Your examples, "an extra 20p-an-hour" and "£10-an-hour" are not too revealing in that the abbreviation and symbol p and £ don't tell us whether they are singular or plural. And the answers to the current issue are NOT in a style guide, but probably in a grammar book. – Apollyon Feb 02 '23 at 23:37
  • There are several votes to close this question because it is a duplicate of another about hyphenation. But the OP specifically says it isn't about hyphenation, rather the use of singular versus plural nouns in complex modifiers. The fact that a) the OP confused the matter by introducing some hyphens and b) many of the comments have veered off topic into arguments about hyphenation is irrelevant. Therefore I vote to keep it open. Maybe it should be closed for a different reason, it can only be answered by an opinion. – Peter Jennings Feb 27 '23 at 23:29

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