HYPHENATED ADJECTIVES WITH NUMBERS

Pay attention to this well-known structure:

This girl is 9 years old

The same information can be given in this other way:

This ia a 9-year-old girl

In this last example the information about the girl's age is given as an adjective in a predicative position, which means that the adjective goes before the noun and not after the verb be. In this case we use hyphens and the word year is singular, with no s even though it refers to plural (9)

More examples:

I am doing a 50-hour course (= The course I am doing lasts 50 hours)

We're staying at a five-star hotel (= The hotel we're staying at has five stars)

Exercise: Rewrite the following sentences using a hyphenated adjective. Then check the KEY below.

• We had a break of ten minutes

            We had a                            

• The golf course has 12 holes

           It is a                           

• The cinema has 90 seats

           It is a                          

• The phone call lasted 15 minutes

           It was a                             

• We took a course that lasted two months

          We took a                             

• We have two lessons a week of two hours

           We have a                                a week

• This house has 3 bedrooms 

           This is a                               

• This tree is 150 years old

           This is a                               

• The film lasted 3 hours

           It was a                             

• I'm reading a book that has 250 pages

           I'm reading a                           

• We spent ten days on a trip

           We went on a                          

Now check the KEY below:

• 10-minute break
• 12-hole course
• 90-seat cinema
• 15-minute phone call
• two-month course
• 2-hour lesson
• 4-bedroom house
• 150-year-old tree
• 3-hour film
• 250-page book
• 10-day trip