Myriad

[Mr. X]

Hi,

I am talking about myriad as an adjective, NOT noun: I saw myriad stars.


My confusion is: do we need an article in front of myriad? I saw a myriad stars. The article 'the' would be odd here. So which article is right, or is an article necessary at all?


Again, I am not talking about noun as in "a myriad of stars". Only adjective.



Thanks,
X

 

[opa6x57]

My confusion is: do we need an article in front of myriad? I saw a myriad stars. The article 'the' would be odd here. So which article is right, or is an article necessary at all?

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Not a teacher, 53-year-old American.
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Whether you need an article or not really depends on the context. In your given example "I saw myriad stars." I would NOT use any article - it reads fine without it.

In a different context (from the online dictionary - link below), another example uses the article 'the'. "< the myriad problems that cities face.>"

And another example: "<the myriad activity of the new land — Meridel Le Sueur> "


Myriad - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

[apex2000]

I saw a myriad stars. I saw an uncountable number of stars.

 

[5jj]

In your given example "I saw myriad stars." I would NOT use any article - it reads fine without it.

For me it can only be: I saw a myriad of stars.

 

[opa6x57]

For me it can only be: I saw a myriad of stars.

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Not a teacher, 53-year-old American.
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Myriad has definitions as both a noun and as an adjective.

One definition of myriad (the adjective) is innumerable. Since one could say, "I saw innumerable stars." I submit that one could say, "I saw myriad stars." as well. (Granted, this is not how I would normally use this word - but the definition as an adjective is not marked as 'archaic' or with any other non-standard indication.)


In "I saw a myriad of stars." myriad is a noun - similar in meaning to 'multitude'. In this construct, I agree - the article and the preposition are both required.

 

[birdeen's call]

Nobody has yet said that "a myriad stars" is clearly incorrect if we treat "myriad" as an adjective. (I've never seen such usage, thanks for bringing it up.) "Stars" is plural and we use "a" in the singular.

And this seems to be the original question, which is difficult for me to understand. Mr. X, you seem to have a good command of English. Don't you know this rule? Or is there something special about this example that confuses you?

 

[Barb_D]

Personally, I find
There are a myriad of reasons to do this to be okay.
There are myriad reasons to do this to be okay.
The myriad reasons pale in comparison to this one counterpoint to be okay.
But A myriad reasons ...(without the "of") to be unacceptable.

I don't know how to do a corpus look-up for "a myriad" that excludes a following "of." Does anyone know how to do that? (I'd be happy to learn!)

 

[opa6x57]

birdeen's call:
Nobody has yet said that "a myriad stars" is clearly incorrect if we treat "myriad" as an adjective. (I've never seen such usage, thanks for bringing it up.) "Stars" is plural and we use "a" in the singular.

Barb_D:
But A myriad reasons ...(without the "of") to be unacceptable.

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Not a teacher, 53-year-old American.
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<smacking forehead> Of course we can't use "A myriad stars" How in the heck did I miss that???

 

[5jj]

<smacking forehead> Of course we can't use "A myriad stars" How in the heck did I miss that???

Well, I can't say a myriad stars, but I can say a million stars.