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Difficulty: Very hardNouns and Noun Phrases

Complete the sentence below by entering the correct plural form of the compound noun in the blank provided.

Answer:During the joint security summit, all the state 【inspectors-general of police】 delivered speeches on strengthening inter-agency intelligence coordination.

Answer

inspectors-general of police
The correct response pluralizes the principal noun 'inspector' to form 'inspectors-general of police', adhering to standard English rules for compound titles modified by post-positional elements.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the principal noun (headword) within the hyphenated compound noun phrase.
The headword of the compound noun 'inspector-general of police' is 'inspector'.
In complex compound nouns comprising a principal noun followed by an adjective or prepositional modifier, pluralization attaches to the head noun rather than the post-modifying elements.
2
Apply the rule of pluralization to the identified head noun.
'inspector' becomes 'inspectors', yielding 'inspectors-general of police'.
'General' functions as a post-modifying adjective here, and 'of police' is a prepositional complement; neither takes the plural suffix.

Key Concept

Pluralization of Compound Nouns with Post-modifiers
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Topics

Nouns and Noun Phrases

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