Let’s talk about strawberry cake

This is my favourite comment when I’m editing a PhD thesis or journal paper:

I met a PhD student on Zoom recently and he said he couldn’t wait to find out what this comment meant. He actually wondered if I’d confused my shopping list with his thesis.

Here’s the story. If I baked a cake, I could decorate it with strawberries and it would be really tasty.

Evidence of my baking skills, should you need it:

Anyway, back to this cake I’ve decorated with strawberries.

If I invited you over to my house, I’m unlikely to say “would you like a slice of cake decorated with strawberries?”

Instead, I’d ask “would you like a slice of strawberry cake?”

I know you’re thinking I’m off track here, but stick with me. This is relevant to scientific writing, I promise!

Look at these pairs of phrases:

And...

All of these phrases are grammatically correct.

The phrases listed on the right hand side above are called noun modifiers. We are using one noun (strawberries) to modify the meaning of another noun (cake).

We generally make the modifier noun singular. So cake with strawberries becomes strawberry cake. The noun being modified (e.g., cake) can be singular or plural, depending on the normal rules of grammar.

So when you find yourself writing phrases like these, just remember “strawberry cake” and you’ll be fine. And maybe hungry, too!