[Grammar] NEVER-FAILS-STRATEGY

[EverLivingPoet]

What is the difference between a "never-fails strategy" and a "never-fail strategy"?

 

[SoothingDave]

I don't think there is any difference in meaning. "Never-fail" is the expression I am familiar with.

 

[EverLivingPoet]

Are there rules for premodification of nouns using verb phrases? Could it be that for a strategy that never fails, I should call it a "never-fails strategy", due to third-person rules?

 

[SoothingDave]

I would call it a "never-fail strategy."

 

[Tdol]

But what is the function of the phrase in the sentence? It's not simply a third person singular verb any longer, so why should it behave like one?