0

a. People over-twenty-one will have to pay full price.

b. Over-twenty-one people will have to pay full price.

c. Were there any people over-twenty-one who did not pay full price?

d. Were there any over-twenty-one people who did not pay full price?

In which of the above sentences 'over-twenty-one' is in the correct place?

I think if one heard (b) one might get the wrong impression that the intended meaning is that more than twenty-one people will have to pay full price. I am not sure the sentence works.

Many thanks.

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

AME speaker, I would say that both a and c are correct. This is a case where it's used as a set phrase (being a shortened form of "people over 21 years of age"). And because of that the "over-21 people" form simply does not work.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    Personally, I think (c) makes more sense than (a), which I think should read "people over twenty-one..."
    – jtb
    Commented Mar 12, 2023 at 4:07
  • 2
    The first hyphen is wrong in both cases.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Mar 12, 2023 at 9:09
  • 1
    @Kate Bunting: agreed, I am blind and didn't even realize the hyphen is present in those cases.
    – SoronelHaetir
    Commented Mar 12, 2023 at 15:54
1

The question itself feels a bit off to me.

The correct options here would look like one of the following.

  1. People over twenty-one will have to pay full price.
  2. Were there any people over twenty-one who did not pay full price?

Just in case, we have an explainer and quiz on word order here.

UPD: This account is affiliated with grammarerror.com.

Improve this answer
1
  • IT might be obvious from your username, but please read through this and please disclose your affiliation in your post (you can edit it).
    – Joachim
    Commented Apr 26, 2023 at 23:22

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .