[Grammar] I wanted the evenings free for going out with friends.

[nininaz]

Hello,
Are both of these have the same meaning? and is 'free' an adjective , and 'evenings' as noun in both of them?


I wanted the evenings free for going out with friends.
I wanted the free evenings for going out with friends.

Thanks.

 

[jutfrank]

The first sentence is correct. Yes, free is an adjective here.

The second sentence is not right.

 

[GoesStation]

Hello,
[STRIKE]Are[/STRIKE] Do both of these have the same meaning? [STRIKE]and[/STRIKE] Is 'free' [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] an adjective in both of them?

Only the first is natural except in a very unlikely context. Free is an adjective in both.

 

[nininaz]

The first sentence is correct. Yes, free is an adjective here.

The second sentence is not right.

Thanks .
why do we have expressions like 'free time' , 'free afternoon' , and so on. , but we can't have 'free evenings'? What is the rule behind this?

I was also searching and I found out that although 'free' is an adjective and can come before 'noun', in this meaning it can come either after or before nouns.

Here it means 'available', but what makes me confused most is that when we can use this adjective before and when we can use after 'noun'?

 

[jutfrank]

You definitely can say free evenings. I can't give you a quick rule because it depends on both the meaning and structure of the sentence.

I'm very busy this month. I don't have any free evenings.
I want to keep my evenings free for going out with friends.

Try to notice a difference in the structures of these two sentences.