Learn English – Why do you say “air conditioned” and not “conditioned air”

adjectivesstructureword-order

For a non-native English speaker, it seems that "air" is a noun and "conditioned" is an adjective. Following the correct word order, the adjective should precede the noun, so it should be "conditioned air". So why "air conditioned"? Are there other examples of the same word order?

Best Answer

Air-conditioning is the process for treating the air in a building. The compound adjective air-conditioned describes such a building. Conditioned air would describe the air, not the building!

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