Hi.
What’s the difference between communications and communication? E.g, communication skills and communications skills.
Nouns used as adjectives are normally singular (shoe store, book case). ‘Communication skills’ has the expected meaning of ‘ability to communicate with others’.
‘Communications’ is 'the discipline that studies the principles of transmitting information and the methods by which it is delivered (as print or radio or television etc.), so ‘communications skills’ would refer to abilities in that specific field. I find ‘communications skills’ unusual, though, and I would suspect that the user actually meant ‘communication skills’.
Yes, you are right. In the context where i encountered them, they were used interchangeably with the same meaning ’ the abilities to communicate’. So, in that case, ‘communications’ should be corrected to ‘communication’, right?
Are there any abnormal cases in which the plural form of nouns are used as the attributive? ‘Sports’ i know is definitely one.
Yes, ‘sports’ is a common one that we often meet. And of course words like ‘statistics’ and ‘economics’. I have run across others, but unfortunately, none of them spring to mind at the moment.
What about ‘man’ and ‘woman’? Woman police officers or women police officers?
By the way, statistics and economics both refer to disciplines, like communications, right?
‘Female police officers’ is the solution to your first dilemma.
‘Disciplines’, yes.
So ‘man’ and ‘woman’ seldom act as ajectives; instead, ‘male’ and ‘female’ are much prefered, right?
Well, it certainly solves the problem, doesn’t it? Any writer would go the same way, I think.
Communication skills - skills of communicating with other human beings.
Communications skills = most likely, the skills of the profession of communications (which is a professional field).
Phil
www.TutorPhil.com