Why is it attorneys general And not attorney generals? Brothers in law and not brother in laws?
In: Culture
Same reason we say “green trees” and not “greens tree.” In English, we only pluralize the noun, and not any adjectives (or adjective phrases) that modify it. The weird thing with the examples you picked – and what makes them sound a little strange – is that the modifiers come *after* the noun, which is pretty rare in English. But the rule isn’t that the last thing gets pluralized, it’s that the noun gets pluralized, wherever it sits.
The Attorney General is an attorney, and “General” is the modifier saying that he is the attorney of the general public, or the government (rather than a noun meaning a military leader). So to pluralize we say Attorneys (more than one lawyer) General (modifying these attorneys’ job). Same with brothers in law – they are my brothers, and we modify it by saying “in-law” to distinguish from a blood relationship.
There aren’t many phrases like that in English, but the ones that do exist follow that same rule. God Almighty is one (although I guess “almighty God” is used as well), but a polytheist might say “gods almighty.” I have two grandparents who taught at college and have since retired – they are “professors emeritus” rather than “professor emerituses.” It can be a little weird, but it’s correct as far as the grammar goes.
If you say the nouns without the adjectives will the sentence sound correct? If you say attorney generals but then go back and just say attorney does it sound correct in the context you are using it?
This is a nice rule of thumb for more than this case too.
Generally, you should make a plural of the thing you’re pointing at.
This is my brother, according to the law (we’re related by marriage). This is my other brother, also according to the law. Together, they’re brothers, according to the law, or brothers-in-law.
The law shouldn’t be pluralized, because it’s not the thing you’re pointing at, and there’s only one law in question (the one that makes you all family).
Similarly, the attorney is of the general type, and secretaries of state serve only one state (whether that state is part of one nation or not).
Because they are attorneys who have a general (I.e. overall, i.e. public) responsibility. And because they are brothers… English (unlike Spanish, French or Serbian) does not require adjectives to take the number (or gender or case) of the noun it modifies.
similar to why it isn’t five blues car.
You are making a thing (noun) plural not the adjective or descriptive part.
The type of brother is in-law. the type of attorney is general.
Just like the type of car is blue.
Because we add the S to nouns and not adjectives, and in those phrases, “attorney” is the noun and “general” is the adjective, similarly “brother” is the noun and “in law” is the adjective.
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