[Grammar] Is 'They are so pretty girls' ungrammatical?

[wotcha]

1. She is so pretty a girl.

2. They are so pretty girls.

3. They are so much pretty girls.


What I've read on the web is that sentence 2 is ungrammatical

and just want to know it really is.

 

[bhaisahab]

1. She is so pretty a girl.

2. They are so pretty girls.

3. They are so much pretty girls.


What I've read on the web is that sentence 2 is ungrammatical

and just want to know it really is.

2 and 3 are both wrong.

 

[emsr2d2]

... and number 1 only really works if followed by something else:

She is so pretty a girl that all the boys want to date her.

 

[Barb_D]

"She is such a pretty girl" and "They are such pretty girls" both work, but "so" does not.

 

[whitemoon]

1. She is so pretty a girl.

2. They are so pretty girls.

3. They are so much pretty girls.


What I've read on the web is that sentence 2 is ungrammatical

and just want to know it really is.

For no. 2; “so + adjective + noun” can’t be used but “so + adjective or adverb” can. Therefore, the second sentence is ungrammatical.
For no. 3; the pattern is “so + much/little + non-countable noun, and so the sentence 3 is not grammatical. The other one is “so + many/few + plural noun”.

 

[whitemoon]

2 and 3 are both wrong.

Dear bhaisahab,
Can you explain why the first sentence is not wrong?
Thanks.
Whitemoon

 

[bhaisahab]

Dear bhaisahab,
Can you explain why the first sentence is not wrong?
Thanks.
Whitemoon

"She is so pretty a girl." As emsr2d2 said it's OK if it's followed by something else like this: "She is so pretty a girl that all the boys want to date her."

 

[whitemoon]

If so, we can say "She is so pretty a girl" is not grammatical, can't we?

 

[bhaisahab]

If so, we can say "She is so pretty a girl" is not grammatical, can't we?

No, it's grammatical. It's not very natural on it's own, but it's not wrong in my opinion.

 

[wotcha]

For no. 2; “so + adjective + noun” can’t be used but “so + adjective or adverb” can. Therefore, the second sentence is ungrammatical.
For no. 3; the pattern is “so + much/little + non-countable noun, and so the sentence 3 is not grammatical. The other one is “so + many/few + plural noun”.

Then 'There are so many pretty girls around me, and it makes me feel happy' is grammatical?

 

[emsr2d2]

Then 'There are so many pretty girls around me, and it makes me feel happy' is grammatical?

Only if you are using "so many" to mean "a remarkable amount". The more natural ways would be:

There are many pretty girls around me and that makes me [feel] happy.
There are so many pretty girls around me that I am/feel happy.

As we said before, the "so many" construction works best when followed by a "than" clause.

 

[whitemoon]

Then 'There are so many pretty girls around me, and it makes me feel happy' is grammatical?

For no. 2; “so + adjective + noun” can’t be used but “so + adjective or adverb” can. Therefore, the second sentence is ungrammatical.
For no. 3; the pattern is “so + much/little + non-countable noun, and so the sentence 3 is not grammatical. The other one is “so + many/few + plural noun”.
These patterns are grammitical. According to these, "so many pretty girls" is not grammatical.

 

[Barb_D]

I think the "so" to mean "a remarkable amount" is pretty common in American English, and perhaps more so than in other places.

I am so tired.
She is so pretty!
There are so many things to look at!

We feel that's fine alone and don't need the "that I need to take a nap" or "that she makes all the other girls wish they had bags to put over their heads" to make that feel grammatical.

I know that comment is only tangential to the main question, so feel free to ignore it if it seems to be taking the thread in the wrong direction.