It is a common expression. Unfortunately, the wrong version is more popular than the correct one. So, which do you usually say when referring to water sold in bottles — water that has, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, been treated to make it very clean, or that comes from a special source such as a spring?
Is it “bottle water” or “bottled water”?
I wish this were a physical class so that I could immediately ask for your opinion.
The question takes us back to verbal adjectives, otherwise known as participles. A verbal adjective is an adjective derived from a verb. An adjective, of course, is a word that describes a noun — pardon the repetition.
There are many natural adjectives such as tall, high and beautiful, as seen in expressions like a tall boy, the high table and a beautiful bird. On the other hand, verbal adjectives include charged, dancing and proven, as used in the following contexts:
a charged laptop
the dancing girl
proven ability
In these examples, the adjectives are formed from the verbs charge, dance and prove.
Here are more examples of verbal adjectives (participles):
He is the owner of the damaged car.
Sylva has been declared wanted over the coup.
The question borders on dangling participles.
It is a wiring problem.
I want to improve my spoken English.
He was seen holding a broken bottle.
In the clauses above, damaged, wanted, dangling, wiring, spoken and broken function as verbal adjectives, even though they were originally verbs. For instance, while damaged describes car, spoken explains the aspect of the English language the speaker wants to improve.
Bottled Water
Returning to our main question, it should now be clear that what many people refer to as “bottle water” is actually “bottled water.” The word bottle must appear in its past participle form to function correctly as a verbal adjective.
We need bottle water for the party. (Wrong)
We need bottled water for the party. (Correct)
The price of bottle water has risen. (Wrong)
The price of bottled water has risen. (Correct)
Canned Drink, Roasted Corn
Similarly, the correct expressions are canned drink (such as canned Coke, canned Pepsi, canned malt and canned beer), tinned tomato, and roasted corn — not can drink, tin tomato or roast corn.
I asked her to get can fruits. (Wrong)
I asked her to get canned fruits. (Correct)
My grandma doesn’t like tin tomatoes. (Wrong)
My grandma doesn’t like tinned tomatoes. (Correct)
Daddy asked me to buy roast plantain, not roast corn. (Wrong)
Daddy asked me to buy roasted plantain, not roasted corn. (Correct)
Exceptions
When dealing with verbal adjectives, there are certain expressions to watch out for.
First, you must be sure of the correct participle form of the original verb. Not all past participles end in -d or -ed:
She added grinded pepper to the soup. (Wrong)
She added ground pepper to the soup. (Correct)
Secondly, verbal adjectives are not required in certain contexts:
I like toasted bread. (Wrong)
I like toast bread. (Correct)
Tope sells iced water in Oje Market. (Wrong)
Tope sells ice water in Oje Market. (Correct)
The guy is always abusing people because he is not matured. (Wrong)
The guy is always abusing people because he is not mature. (Correct)
Understanding how participles work helps us speak and write more accurately — and saves us from repeating errors that have become popular through constant misuse.
Credit: The Punch
