I know it's nitpicking, but come on. Can Hollywood at least be bothered to get the title of a movie grammatically correct? America's literacy level just keeps on dropping, and this doesn't help.
"Couples retreat" implies that one (or more) couples are in the act of retreating from something, as in, "I watched the couples retreat from the pursuing dinosaur robot."
"Couples' retreat" would imply a retreat for couples.
I don't think the phrase 'couples retreat' is grammatically incorrect, because it doesn't require 'possession' that would be implied by using an apostrophe. In this sense, "couples" can serve as just a simple adjective. "Retreat" is a noun. What kind of retreat is it? For example,
It's a beautiful retreat.
It's a Buddhist retreat.
It's a snowy retreat.
It's an alcoholics retreat.
It's a couples retreat.
It's just a descriptor for what type of retreat it is. It doesn't need to be from the point of view of the participants.
The thing is, 'couples' is NOT an adjective, so it's grammatically incorrect, unless they mean to say that "these couples are in the process of retreating".
For it to work the way you want, there should be at least a hyphen.
It's a "Couples-Retreat".
It still seems a stretch, because 'couples' doesn't really answer the question "what kind", but 'beautiful' does.
"What is it like? - It's beautiful."
"What is it like? - It's couples."
See, it doesn't work. I have to hand it to you, though, you thought it up very well and your example almost works. However, in my humble opinion, it just doesn't work like that in english language.
I agree. It's implied that it's a retreat for couples, not that the retreat is couples. So it's should be couples' retreat. Simple. Same with alcoholics.
shareI disagree. I think in this case the word "couples" acts as a descriptor. The phrase "couples retreat" tells us the sort of retreat it is.
Of course, "couples' retreat" would also be correct, if you were to want to imply possession of the retreat. The couples own this retreat, it is theirs. But to say "couples retreat" is not wrong if you are wanting to inform regarding the KIND of retreat it is.
Upvote from me.
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