adjective or noun

[Dar27]

Hello!
Is it possible that 'design' which might be only a noun or a verb was found as an adjective?
Have a look at the examples (the extracts come from British Standards):

“at the bearing, assuming a local design bearing strength of 1.25k/m
the leading variable action, and ? the design combination values of accompanying
included in a plastic analysis using design earth pressure coefficients. structure in question.
3.1.2 Basis of design for reinforced concrete.
occur in the steel within the intended design life of the structure.
specified limit states in the specified design situations.
, a reduced design strength pyr may be calculated
oil parameters to permit a satisfactory design to be prepared.
be capable of resisting a notional design ultimate horizontal load applied alternate spans loaded with the maximum design ultimate load (1.4Gk + 1.6Qk) and
all appropriate combinations of design ultimate load
If the design ultimate moment exceeds”

Thank you

 

[cuchuflete]

Hello Dar27,

We had a recent thread that discussed two nouns in combination, with one of the nouns 'acting as an adjective'.
The sources cited all agreed that in English one noun may be used adjectively to modify another noun, but they did not agree about naming conventions for such usage. A couple souces described such nouns as 'attributive', but never stated whether or not they were adjectives, or just nouns used adjectively. Regardless of what the grammarians call such words, it is correct to use design in this way.

In addition to those in your text sample, think of design studio, design objectives, etc.



Regards,
cuchuflete


PS-Welcome to the forums!

 

[Dar27]

Thanky very much! That information is very helpful

 

[Dar27]

Hi!
I'm confused with belowphrases (they are taken from British Standards):
“at the bearing, assuming a local design bearing strength of 1.25k/m
specified limit states in the specified design situations.
be capable of resisting a notional design ultimate horizontal load
If the design ultimate moment exceeds”
According to dictionaries, design is either noun or verb, but here design behaves as an adjective? How to explain that?
Is design here used as a noun? Isn’t it an adjective?

 

[Ms Missy]

My dictionary lists design as a verb. (American Heritage Dictionary, second College Edition). But even though it looks as though it might be used as a noun or adjective in some of your phrases, the phrases are over-all much too technical for me to interpret with any significant input).

Sorry I couldn't be of help!

 

[cuchuflete]

Moderator note: two threads on the same subject have been merged.

 

[Joelline]

“at the bearing, assuming a local design bearing strength of 1.25k/m
specified limit states in the specified design situations.
be capable of resisting a notional design ultimate horizontal load
If the design ultimate moment exceeds”
Is design here used as a noun? Isn’t it an adjective?

Well, this is truly a nasty bunch of jargon! It is hard to believe that the sentences were formed by a native speaker. Nevertheless, it is true that the word "design" in the following (convoluted) phrases is being used as an adjective.
a local design bearing strength
the specified design situations
a notional design ultimate horizontal load
the design ultimate moment

The sentences above are hideous; however, I have no problem with using "design" as an adjective--regardless of what the dictionaries say. I've seen it used adjectivally in the following: "a design guru," "a design factor," and, a common one, "a design flaw." If you google these, you'll find thousands of hits.