A very dumb question

[GoGoFelix1]

Greetings to everyone! I have a really dumb question to ask. I'd like to start a website related to gifting. I registered a domain name, but suddenly I got stuck by the question whether the domain I had registered is grammatically correct. The name is giftsmatch. I didn't write the full URL, so it won't be considered as spam. I feel quite embarrassed to ask this question, but it's quite important for me. Thank you for help and good luck.

[luke]

I'd like to start a website related to gifting. I registered a domain name, but suddenly I got stuck by the question whether the domain I had registered is grammatically correct. The name is giftsmatch.

If your site will be matching the gift provided by it's visiters, giftmatch.
If your site is seeking to find people to match the gifts of other visitors, giftmatch.

giftmatch may be a better choice overall. It sounds natural, like a website name.

[donkeygoatee]

+1 "giftmatch" is much more natural in English. Hard to explain why...it just is!

[smallwhite]

> Hard to explain why...it just is!

When 2 English nouns are placed together, the first one describing or providing information about the second one, the first noun is normally in the singular even if more than one of it is involved.

pencil case
peanut butter
car industry
cookie making
thread count

I rarely see this rule broken. If it's ever broken, the word is usually one that really, really has to be in the plural to not sound odd or off.

economics class
a people person
(not very good examples)

This is not a dumb question!

[zenmonkey]

Match is both a verb and a noun. For various reasons your URL works even if the option without the s may have been a better choice. A sentence such as "The gifts match" can be constructed with no issue.

Probably the url without the s was already taken. And you should check to see if it isn't competition.

"giftmatcher" can also work.

[tcl]

> Hard to explain why...it just is!

When 2 English nouns are placed together, the first one describing or providing information about the second one, the first noun is normally in the singular even if more than one of it is involved.

pencil case
peanut butter
car industry
cookie making
thread count

I rarely see this rule broken. If it's ever broken, the word is usually one that really, really has to be in the plural to not sound odd or off.

economics class
a people person
(not very good examples)

This is not a dumb question!

There may also be some difference between British and American English on this point. As an American, I might call a police raid against heroin traffickers a "drug bust," whereas I think I've heard British people call that sort of thing a "drugs bust." (I'm happy to be contradicted by those who know better.)