Recording a radio programme
A question from Marina in Hong Kong:
I am quite confused and cannot understand why the subject of the programme is not '6-minute English' (6-minute as a compound adjective) or '6 Minutes English' (use a noun in plural form after 6).
Could you tell me why none of the usual practices mentioned is applied?
Amy Lightfoot answers
Click below to hear the answer:
Hi Marina, good question! And for once, I'm happy to say that there is a more or less easy answer. You are absolutely right when you say that 6-minute is a compound adjective. This basically means that we are using the phrase 6-minute to describe a noun, in this case 'English', as in 6 Minute English. When you use a noun as part of a compound adjective you don’t pluralise it. The noun in this kind of adjective is always singular as it is acting like an adjective and, as we all know, we don’t make adjectives plural in English, unlike in some other languages. So that answers your question about why we don’t say 6 minutes English.
But what about the hyphen that you’ve noticed isn’t there in the title of the programme 6 Minute English? You’re absolutely right when you say that compound adjectives like this one should have a hyphen, but the fact is that hyphens are a bit of an endangered species in the English language these days. A lot of people have stopped using them altogether.
I have a little theory that they’re not used as much these days because computers are used much more commonly than typewriters in most English-speaking countries and we therefore don’t have to worry about coming to the end of a line, only managing to type half the word and then having to add a hyphen to show that the rest of the word will follow on the next line – that was a common use of hyphens in the past. But that’s just a theory. In any case, these disappearing hyphens are a good example of how the English language is changing all the time.
Here are a few more examples of compound adjectives, without hyphens!
He’s a ten year old boy.
I recently ended a four year relationship.
I’m going on a ten day trek to Mount Everest.
I hope this answers your question. Thanks very much for writing in.
About Amy Lightfoot
Amy Lightfoot started out doing a degree in psychology in 1995 and quickly became interested in the processes involved in learning languages. She now has a Trinity CertTESOL, DELTA and MA in English Language Teaching. She has taught English and worked on teacher training projects in the UK, Portugal, India, Afghanistan and Bhutan. She is currently working as a freelance materials writer and language trainer in Somerset, England.
