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Thread: order of adjectives

  1. 03-Feb-2013, 18:05 #1
    lille82
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    Default order of adjectives

    "Our English teacher is a 25 year old married Englishman." Why can`t we say that he is a married 25 year old Englishman or a married 25 years old Englishman?

    Thanks.
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  2. 03-Feb-2013, 18:11 #2
    SoothingDave
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    Default Re: order of adjectives

    When using numerical measures as adjectives, we always use the singular unit of measure. A 25-year-old man.
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  3. 03-Feb-2013, 18:15 #3
    billmcd
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    Default Re: order of adjectives

    Quote Originally Posted by lille82 View Post
    "Our English teacher is a 25 year old married Englishman." Why can`t we say that he is a married 25 year old Englishman or a married 25 years old Englishman?

    Thanks.
    The order is not important in that context, but don't pluralize 'year'.
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  4. 03-Feb-2013, 18:17 #4
    lille82
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    Default Re: order of adjectives

    Thanks for that. What about the other two options left "a married 25 year old" and "a 25 year old married". According to the solution the first one is not correct.
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  5. 03-Feb-2013, 18:53 #5
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    5jj
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    Default Re: order of adjectives

    Quote Originally Posted by lille82 View Post
    Thanks for that. What about the other two options left "a married 25 year old" and "a 25 year old married". According to the solution the first one is not correct.
    The first one is not actually incorrect, but the second is much more natural - if you have hyphens in '25-year-old'.
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    Context is important. Please provide enough for us to be able to deal effectively with your question.
    Your thread title should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.
    If you just want to know the meaning of a word, try OneLook Dictionary Search first.

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