what is the right way to say?
"combat sports lesson" (sports with s) or "combat sport lesson"?
It should not mean a specific style of combat sport like wrestling or karate.
It should mean combat sport in general.
Thank you.
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In North America, TV announcers say * NOW SPORTS* whereas in English-speaking parts of the other three continents where I have lived, it's NOW SPORT. – Ronald Sole Mar 25 '17 at 10:26
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2Possible duplicate of When are attributive nouns plural? See also a mice problem vs a mouse problem, and recognise that there is often no definitive answer hereabouts; checking Gooogle Ngrams and internet usages is often the best way to ascertain idiomaticity in particular cases. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 25 '17 at 17:46
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Thank you very much Ronald and Edwin. Hope you will help me with the follow-up-question - see below please. – berkartz Mar 26 '17 at 14:21
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I would definitely prefer sports. You would say “sports lesson“ as a general term, combat just specifies it to a certain field of sports (still in general). Since you want to express the general term, the better word is sports. If you would only speak of wrestling, the word sport would be used.
For example:
The general term:
I really enjoy the (combat) sports lessons.
The specific term:
Wrestling is my favorite combat sport.
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Hello HP. May I refer you to this comment from @ tchrist: We are looking for more substantial answers with documented references, not merely [statements that may possibly be no more than] personal opinion. Those are just comments, not answers. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 25 '17 at 17:54
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Do you want me to delete the answer? I'm sorry it doesn't meet the criteria, but I figured that this 'answer' would have been too long for a comment. Also, I think the question itself refers to something that is partly opinion based. Am I wrong there? – Mar 25 '17 at 19:53
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Opinions are often wrong and ELU (and OP) requires authoritative answers rather than punditry. You could add some stats from raw Google searches and Google Ngrams – not conclusive, but far less subjective. Though really, on ELU, such reasonable research is expected to accompany the question. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 25 '17 at 19:59
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Hello E.A. and H.P., thank you very much. I like your answers very much! Im looking for an option with substantial base to construct a structure of words which doesn't feels bad for the opinion of the majority of reader. You made a great job! Hope you will help me with the follow-up question, too (see below, please). – berkartz Mar 26 '17 at 14:22
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FOLLOW-UP-QUESTION
The words combat sport(s) & lesson(s) are not part of a sentence!
They should be a headline!
"Combat sport" is what it is about. And "lesson(s)" should be an addition just to make it more descriptive.
Im free to style it, for example:
a) Combat sport - lesson
b) Combat sport (lesson)
c) Combat sports - lesson
d) Combat sports (lesson)
e) Combat sport - lessons
f) Combat sport (lessons)
g) Combat sports - lessons
h) Combat sports (lessons)
- Are these options gramatically correct?
- And what is your feeling, opinion about these options. Which one would you prefer spontaneously without thinking?
berkartz
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I found that you can probably use both, they are both grammatical. 'Sports' is preferably used in the US, 'sport' in British English. Spontaneously, I would still prefer 'combat sports lessons'. Besides that, the hyphen looks a bit odd to me, but maybe this is just me. Hope this helps! :) – Mar 26 '17 at 16:59
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Thank you H.P. Are you in general more familiar with US english or British english? – berkartz Mar 27 '17 at 00:57
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I am definitely no expert in either one of them, but I would say American English, as I surround myself with mostly American stuff (music, movies, news,...) and learn from it. – Mar 27 '17 at 12:42