[Grammar] a/the magnanimous

[Oceanlike]

In the sentence below, I used the article 'a'. I think I'm correct. Am I?
If I use, "the magnanimous Ryan said", is it incorrect?

“Joseph gave a better performance and he deserved to win the tournament,” a magnanimous Ryan said.

Thank you for teaching me! :-D

 

[Tdol]

A suggests that Ryan was being magnanimous on that occasion, while the would suggest that he was always magnanimous to me.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is it correct not to use an article before 'magnanimous'?

 

[GoesStation]

Is it correct not to use an article before 'magnanimous'?

No. An article is required in that construction. You could re-word the last clause as ​Ryan said, magnanimously.

 

[Roman55]

Unless his nickname was, 'Magnanimous Ryan'.

 

[Matthew Wai]

An article is required in that construction.

Does 'that construction' refer to 'Article + adjective + proper noun + verb + direct speech'?

 

[GoesStation]

I'm not sure how to describe the unusual construction in OP's sentence. A shorter version would be something like Joseph did well, a magnanimous Ryan said. The bit I was thinking of is indefinite article + adjective + proper noun. This usage is pretty rare, but I see it from time to time.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I am confused because in this post Tdol told me the article should probably not be used in 'Peter is marrying the pretty Amy', where 'pretty Amy' is similar to 'magnanimous Ryan' in construction.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In my view,the article is optional before pretty Amy.

 

[Matthew Wai]

But he said you could use it.

I thought 'could' referred to a possibility instead of being allowed.

 

[Matthew Wai]

The difference is that I could use it wrongly when not allowed to use it.

 

[Tdol]

I thought 'could' referred to a possibility instead of being allowed.

And what difference would that make with the grammaticality of a phrase? One that I have said was possible but not one I'd be likely to use- I didn't say it was wrong, I just expressed a preference for one thing in one context.