What's the difference between dictionary verb + noun and verb stem + noun? Why
would you use one as opposed to the other? For example, 飲む人 vs 飲み人.
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2022-10-17T15:03:05.940
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2022-10-18T04:04:11.837
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translation
Dictionary verb or verb stem before noun
The dictionary form + noun corresponds to the usage of relative clause in
English, so you can use it as long as it respects the grammar of the verb.

  * 飲む人 a man who drinks
  * 酒を飲む人 a man who drinks alcohol
  * コーヒーを飲む人 a man who drinks coffee

As for the other pattern, it is not _verb stem_ but _masu-form_ (without masu)
used as a noun (see below). This is called 連用形の名詞化. So grammatically _verb
masu-form_ + _noun_ is a complex noun made by combining two nouns. As is the
case with most complex nouns, what combination is natural depends on
collocations and there are no easy rules. Ultimately you need to consult
dictionaries or depend on intuition.

For example, 飲み人 is not common but certainly understandable and so is 酒飲み人.
Both would be understood as a habitual drinker. On the other hand コーヒー飲み人 is
odd.

There are more totally common words that have this structure, like 生き方, ゴミ捨て場,
読み仮名.

* * *

About _masu-form_ and _stem_ : note they coincide in ichidan verbs. For godan
verbs, they are different.

  * godan: 走ら-ない, **走り** -ます, 走-る
  * ichidan: 生き-ない, **生き** -ます, 生き-る

And compare the relevant nouns: 走り方 and 生き方.

* * *

(added)

Just to clarify some points discussed in the comment, in the 'dictionary form'
usage, you don't have to have it in plain dictionary form. It is more or less
constructed in a way similar to English.

> 猫が走る a cat runs  
> → 走る猫 a cat that runs
>
> 猫が外を走る a cat is running outside  
> → 外を走っている猫 a cat that is running outside

> 猫がソファで眠る a cat sleeps on the sofa  
> → ソファで眠る猫 a cat that sleeps on the sofa
>
> 猫がソファで眠っていた a cat was sleeping on the sofa  
> → ソファで眠っていた猫 a cat that was sleeping on the sofa

The _sentence-ending_ form may be less confusing to denote the form used in
this usage.
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