what kind of noun is attorney general

by Mary Brekke 10 min read

The adjective comes before noun ... brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general ... thus brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals. General is the noun, not the adjective, in the military rank. Whereas in attorney general, it is the adjective.

“General” here, though, is an adjective, not a noun; you can think of them as “general attorneys.” So the plural goes on the noun, and the proper form is “attorneys general.”Mar 21, 2016

Full Answer

Is it Attorney General or Attorney General?

attorney general. noun. /əˌtɜːni ˈdʒenrəl/. /əˌtɜːrni ˈdʒenrəl/. (plural attorneys general, attorney generals) jump to other results. . Attorney General. the most senior legal officer in some countries or states, for example the UK or Canada, who advises the …

What part of speech is the word Attorney General?

2 Attorney General (Canadian English) the chief lawyer for Canada or for a particular area, who also gives legal advice to the government; See attorney general in …

What is the plural of attorney?

The noun ATTORNEY GENERALhas 3 senses: 1.the chief law officer of a country or state. 2.the person who holds the position of secretary of the Justice Department. 3.the position of the head of the Justice Department and the chief law enforcement officer of the United States.

What is a common noun?

Mar 04, 2017 · In the phrase attorney general, attorney is the main part, and the word general is descriptive—it tells us what kind of attorney we have to deal with. It’s the same rule we follow for similar phrases such as sister-in-law and editor in chief. You make the main noun plural: I have two sisters-in-law. The Atlantic has had 14 editors in chief.

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What type of noun is Attorney General?

From Longman Business Dictionary atˌtorney ˈgeneral noun (plural attorneys general) [countable] the chief lawyer in the legal system of the US and BritainThe state attorney general alleged that the company forced its dealers to agree to charge minimum prices for certain televisions.

Is Attorney General a compound noun?

Thus, attorney general is a head-first compound noun. The most important part of the compound goes first. Therefore, when we pluralize the noun, we add an s to the most important word: attorneys general.Mar 8, 2018

Why is Attorney General plural?

Why is it “Attorneys General” (plural) but not “Attorney's General” (singular possessive)? With “Attorney General,” general modifies the noun attorney. Thus, when there is more than one Attorney General, you would write “Attorneys General.” This makes sense. You make the noun plural by adding an “s” to it.Feb 18, 2013

Is General is a noun?

English general (adjective and noun) comes via Old French from the Latin adjective generālis “common, belonging to all, belonging to a race or genus” (as opposed to speciālis “particular, belong to a species”).

Is attorneys general correct grammar?

“General” here, though, is an adjective, not a noun; you can think of them as “general attorneys.” So the plural goes on the noun, and the proper form is “attorneys general.”Mar 21, 2016

What is correct attorney-generals or attorneys general?

In American English, attorneys general is the correct plural form. The British prefer attorney-generals (the Brits have long hyphenated the phrase).May 1, 2013

What is the singular possessive of Attorney General?

Applying these rules to attorney general, we see that the plural is attorneys general, the singular possessive is attorney general's, and the plural possessive is attorneys general's.

Why do they say Attorneys General?

The term was originally used to refer to any person who holds a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters. In the common law tradition, anyone who represents the state, especially in criminal prosecutions, is such an attorney.

Why do they say Attorneys General instead of attorney-generals?

Originally Answered: Why is "Attorneys General" the plural instead of "Attorney Generals"? Because “attorney” is the noun and “general” is the adjective. It's common for legal phrases in English to use noun-adjective order instead of adjective-noun order.

Is general a proper noun?

Military ranks or titles like general, colonel, captain, and major are often capitalized in documents and publications of the armed forces and in news stories. In general, capitalize such words only when they are used as part of a name or in place of one. Otherwise, lowercase them when used as common nouns.Mar 25, 2021

What is the noun of general?

generality. (uncountable) The quality of being general. (countable) A generalization.

What are types of nouns?

Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes: concrete nouns, abstract nouns, and collective nouns. A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the senses; something that is physical or real.Jan 14, 2021

Why do we say attorneys general?

The term was originally used to refer to any person who holds a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters. In the common law tradition, anyone who represents the state, especially in criminal prosecutions, is such an attorney.

How do you use attorney general in a sentence?

He was elected state attorney general in 1974 and served in that post for ten years. The attorney general has not talked about that program. This appointment and department were voided when the attorney general ruled the law unconstitutional. He became attorney general of the same circuit from 1918 to 1925.

What is a noun for lawyer?

Counsel is the formal legal word used for a lawyer who is representing someone in court:counsel for the prosecution.

What is another name for the attorney general?

In this page you can discover 12 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for attorney general, like: a.g., chief legal advisor, Attorney General of the United States, chief law officer, chief of the Department of Justice, United States Attorney General, US Attorney General, district attorney, ...

Is Attorney General a compound noun?

Thus, attorney general is a head-first compound noun. The most important part of the compound goes first. Therefore, when we pluralize the noun, we add an s to the most important word: attorneys general.Mar 8, 2018

Is Attorneys General correct grammar?

“General” here, though, is an adjective, not a noun; you can think of them as “general attorneys.” So the plural goes on the noun, and the proper form is “attorneys general.”Mar 21, 2016

What is a general attorney?

Merrick GarlandUnited States / Attorney generalMerrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the 86th United States attorney general since March 2021. He served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 2021. Wikipedia

Who is the current Attorney General?

The current Attorney General is Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame. He was appointed by President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo in 2021.

Who is the attorney general in UK?

Hon Suella Braverman QCThe Rt Hon Suella Braverman QC MP Suella Braverman was appointed Attorney General on 13 February 2020. She was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union from January to November 2018. Suella was elected as the Conservative MP for Fareham in May 2015.

Is lawyer a proper noun?

Normally, the word “lawyer” is not capitalized in a sentence unless it is being used in a title, is part of a proper noun, or is the first word in a sentence. However, it is capitalized when used as part of a name or precedes a name since it becomes a proper noun. ... Lawyer Rudy Giuliani was asked to speak.Mar 11, 2021

What is noun example of noun?

A noun is a word that refers to a thing (book), a person (Betty Crocker), an animal (cat), a place (Omaha), a quality (softness), an idea (justice), or an action (yodeling). It's usually a single word, but not always: cake, shoes, school bus, and time and a half are all nouns.Jan 15, 2022

What are common nouns?

A common noun is the generic name for a person, place, or thing in a class or group. Unlike proper nouns, a common noun is not capitalized unless it either begins a sentence or appears in a title.

What is the difference between chief justice and Attorney General?

In layman terms, Chief Justice is a Judge and Attorney General is a Lawyer, both have distinct roles to play. The Attorney General of India is the highest law officer of the country and he/she is the chief legal advisor to the GoI. He is responsible to assist the government in all its legal matters.Feb 20, 2020

What is the charge of Mukul Rohatgi?

6 days agoHe was appointed Special Prosecutor and received a fee of Rs. 1.20 crore from the government of Maharashtra in the high-profile case probing the death of CBI Special Judge BH Loya. In April 2018, the Supreme Court had quashed the plea demanding a probe into his death, and Rohatgi had hailed the apex court's decision.Oct 29, 2021

Is the attorney general a minister?

The Attorney-General is the minister responsible for legal affairs, national and public security.

What Is the Plural of 'Deputy Attorney General'?

Update: After the podcast aired, we got an interesting follow-up question: What is the plural of deputy attorney general ?

About the Author

Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and the author of seven books on language, including the New York Times bestseller " Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing ." She is an inductee in the Podcasting Hall of Fame, and the show is a five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards.

What is the job of an attorney general?

Basically, their job is to help local and federal law enforcement agencies and judges uphold the law in their home state.

Is "general" a compound noun?

The word “attorney general” is a compound noun. More specifically, it’s a compound noun that’s made of up of a noun and an adjective. The word “general” isn’t like the rank in the military, in other words, but an adjective describing the attorney’s duties as “general,” or non-specialized ones. When pluralizing this kind ...

Is "deer" plural or singular?

English sometimes has plurals that are the same as the singular form (deer and deer, for instance), but more often than not it’s a perplexing task to figure out how to spell the plural of a particular word. That’s because some words have irregular plural spellings. One of those words is “attorney.”.

Is "general" an adjective?

The adjective comes before noun ... brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general ... thus brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals. General is the noun, not the adjective, in the military rank. Whereas in attorney general, it is the adjective. To add to AnWulf ... nor in the British army.

Is "general" a compound noun?

It's a compound noun where the second word is basically an adjective that describes the preceding noun, or "head.". In this case, "general" describes "attorney.". Ah, the joy of head-first compound nouns. A regular compound noun - "military funeral," for instance - has the head at the end.

What is a common noun?

A common noun is a noun that refers to people or things in general, e.g. boy, country, bridge, city, birth, day, happiness.

What is abstract noun?

An abstract noun is a noun which refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions - things that cannot be seen or touched and things which have no physical reality, e.g. truth, danger, happiness, time, friendship, humour.

What is concrete noun?

Concrete noun. A concrete noun is a noun which refers to people and to things that exist physically and can be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted. Examples include dog, building, coffee, tree, rain, beach, tune.

What is countable or uncountable?

Nouns can be either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns (or count nouns) are those that refer to something that can be counted. Uncountable nouns (or mass nouns) do not typically refer to things that can be counted and so they do not regularly have a plural form.

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