Legal and Law
2024-10-19
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Emmanuel in Zambia about the usage of the words "legal" and "law" in English.
2Dear Teacher,
3Please help me understand the correct usage of the words "legal" and "law."
4In the recent debate... I heard Donald Trump say "legal scholar."
5I thought he was supposed to say, "law scholar."
6Which one is the correct usage?
7Thank you.
8I'm happy to answer this question, Emmanuel.
9The word "legal" is an adjective. That is why we can place it before the noun "scholar."
10In the same way, we can use "legal" before many other nouns, as in these examples:
11Legal system, legal documents, legal protections, and legal opinion.
12The word "law" is a noun. We often use "the law" to discuss specific laws or to discuss the law in general.
13Let's look at an example of each.
14First, here is an example discussing a specific law about voting rules:
15The law clearly states that persons under 18 years old are not permitted to vote.
16Next, here is an example discussing the law in general:
17Over the years, the law has changed to provide equal rights to women.
18The noun "law" can seem like an adjective when we place it before another noun to describe what a person does. For example:
19Law professor, law school, and law student
20However, the word "law" and the noun together form what is called a spaced compound noun.
21That is, we use the two words together to name one thing or person.
22"Police officer" is another example of a compound noun.
23But this returns us to your question-if we can say "law professor," why do we usually say "legal scholar" instead of "law scholar?"
24One reason is that when we state what kind of legal scholar a person is, we can use an adjective and the word "law" before the word "scholar."
25The following examples show this.
26A busy law scholar
27A constitutional law scholar
28In these cases, the word "law" replaces the word "legal."
29But if we are not stating what kind of scholar a person is, then we usually use the two words "legal scholar."
30Note, however, that we can also put an adjective before the words "legal scholar," as in "international legal scholar."
31The above examples show that there are no strict rules for using "legal scholar" instead of "law scholar" when an adjective is placed before the two words.
32But keep in mind that we use the expression "legal scholar" more often than "law scholar" when there is no adjective before the two words.
33Discussing the law and legal terms in English might seem difficult.
34But by reading and listening carefully, you can find the most common and correct ways to discuss this subject.
35For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?
36We'd like to hear from you.
37Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
38And please include where you are from in your email, too.
39And that's Ask a Teacher.
40I'm Andrew Smith.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Emmanuel in Zambia about the usage of the words "legal" and "law" in English. 2Question 3Dear Teacher, 4Please help me understand the correct usage of the words "legal" and "law." In the recent debate... I heard Donald Trump say "legal scholar." I thought he was supposed to say, "law scholar." Which one is the correct usage? 5Thank you. 6Answer 7I'm happy to answer this question, Emmanuel. 8The word "legal" is an adjective. That is why we can place it before the noun "scholar." In the same way, we can use "legal" before many other nouns, as in these examples: 9Legal system, legal documents, legal protections, and legal opinion. 10The word "law" is a noun. We often use "the law" to discuss specific laws or to discuss the law in general. Let's look at an example of each. First, here is an example discussing a specific law about voting rules: 11The law clearly states that persons under 18 years old are not permitted to vote. 12Next, here is an example discussing the law in general: 13Over the years, the law has changed to provide equal rights to women. 14Law: noun or adjective? 15The noun "law" can seem like an adjective when we place it before another noun to describe what a person does. For example: 16Law professor, law school, and law student 17However, the word "law" and the noun together form what is called a spaced compound noun. That is, we use the two words together to name one thing or person. "Police officer" is another example of a compound noun. 18But this returns us to your question-if we can say "law professor," why do we usually say "legal scholar" instead of "law scholar?" 19One reason is that when we state what kind of legal scholar a person is, we can use an adjective and the word "law" before the word "scholar." The following examples show this. 20A busy law scholar 21A constitutional law scholar 22In these cases, the word "law" replaces the word "legal." But if we are not stating what kind of scholar a person is, then we usually use the two words "legal scholar." 23Note, however, that we can also put an adjective before the words "legal scholar," as in "international legal scholar." 24The above examples show that there are no strict rules for using "legal scholar" instead of "law scholar" when an adjective is placed before the two words. But keep in mind that we use the expression "legal scholar" more often than "law scholar" when there is no adjective before the two words. 25Discussing the law and legal terms in English might seem difficult. But by reading and listening carefully, you can find the most common and correct ways to discuss this subject. 26For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English? We'd like to hear from you. Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. And please include where you are from in your email, too. 27And that's Ask a Teacher. 28I'm Andrew Smith. 29Andrew Smith wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 30___________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32specific -adj. the exact example of something and not any of other similar things