[Vocabulary] usage of delightful/delighted

[YingJenC]

I'm wondering which is the correct usage? and why?
Thanks a lot for your help.

(1) You seem to be in a delightful mood today.
(2) You seem to be in a delighted mood today.

(3) All the receptionists are responsible for greeting customers in a delightful manner.
(4) All the receptionists are responsible for greeting customers in a delighted manner.

 

[jutfrank]

(1) is correct and (2) is not. You cannot describe a mood as delighted. Only a person can be described as delighted.

Neither (3) nor (4) is good. Both delighted and delightful are the wrong words for this sentence.

We use delighted to talk about how somebody feels. It means very pleased.

I'm absolutely delighted with my new shoes.
She was delighted with her exam results.

We use delightful to talk about how we feel about the thing we talk about. It has an evaluative usage. It's like saying very lovely.

You look delightful in that dress, darling.

 

[YingJenC]

(1) is correct and (2) is not. You cannot describe a mood as delighted. Only a person can be described as delighted.

Neither (3) nor (4) is good. Both delighted and delightful are the wrong words for this sentence.

We use delighted to talk about how somebody feels. It means very pleased.

I'm absolutely delighted with my new shoes.
She was delighted with her exam results.

We use delightful to talk about how we feel about the thing we talk about. It has an evaluative usage. It's like saying very lovely.

You look delightful in that dress, darling.

Thank you so much for the clear explanation.

However, I still feel a little confused when reading the sentence like this:

Her screams of delighted laughter filled the air.

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/delighted


or the phase like this:

a delighted smilehttps://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/delighted?q=delighted


Since the above usages both put the word "delighted" before a noun to express how people feel,
I can't really tell the difference between them and "a delightful mood".

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think the difference lies between "pleased" and "pleasant".
"Delighted" means "very pleased", while "delightful" means "very pleasant".

 

[jutfrank]

Her screams of delighted laughter filled the air.

I understand why you find it hard to understand this use.

The sentence basically means that her laughter was an expression of her being delighted. It's an unusual use because it's not really her laughter that is delighted, it's her.

 

[YingJenC]

I understand why you find it hard to understand this use.

The sentence basically means that her laughter was an expression of her being delighted. It's an unusual use because it's not really her laughter that is delighted, it's her.

I do understand that it is her rather than her laughter being delighted.

But my question is if it is appropriate to interpret "a delighted mood" as a status of her being delighted?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Laughter is an act showing that the person is delighted, but a mood is not an act. It is "the way you feel" according to https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/mood.

A delightful mood makes you delighted.

 

[jutfrank]

But my question is if it is appropriate to interpret "a delighted mood" as a status of her being delighted?

I suppose it is possible, yes.

 

[YingJenC]

I suppose it is possible, yes.

Thank you.
So, does it mean "a delighted mood" is a possible yet uncommon usage to native English speakers? Or is it simply an incorrect usage?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you.
So, does it mean "a delighted mood" is a possible yet uncommon usage to native English speakers? Or is it simply an incorrect usage?

It's not grammatically incorrect. It's just that we don't use "to be in a XXX mood" much, except with "to be in a bad/good/great/terrible mood". We don't tend to put many other adjectives in that space. We just use the adjective to describe the person.

She's in a happy mood = Grammatical but not commonly used.
She's happy = Grammatical and much more likely.

She's in a delighted mood = Grammatical but not commonly used.
She's delighted = Grammatical and much more likely.

You can't change "She's in a good mood" to "She's good" etc.

 

[jutfrank]

Thank you.
So, does it mean "a delighted mood" is a possible yet uncommon usage to native English speakers? Or is it simply an incorrect usage?

I wouldn't say it's 'incorrect' because this is a matter of vocabulary (collocation) rather than grammar. When talking of vocabulary, I prefer to talk about 'good' usage and 'bad usage'. So a word can be great/good/okay/not very good/bad/very bad, etc., rather than simply correct/incorrect. In this case I would say that the use of a delighted mood is not good usage.

 

[YingJenC]

It's not grammatically incorrect. It's just that we don't use "to be in a XXX mood" much, except with "to be in a bad/good/great/terrible mood". We don't tend to put many other adjectives in that space. We just use the adjective to describe the person.

She's in a happy mood = Grammatical but not commonly used.
She's happy = Grammatical and much more likely.

She's in a delighted mood = Grammatical but not commonly used.
She's delighted = Grammatical and much more likely.

You can't change "She's in a good mood" to "She's good" etc.

Thank you for your explanation; it's been very helpful and inspiring.

 

[YingJenC]

I wouldn't say it's 'incorrect' because this is a matter of vocabulary (collocation) rather than grammar. When talking of vocabulary, I prefer to talk about 'good' usage and 'bad usage'. So a word can be great/good/okay/not very good/bad/very bad, etc., rather than simply correct/incorrect. In this case I would say that the use of a delighted mood is not good usage.

Thank you for your explanation; it's been very helpful and inspiring.

 

[emsr2d2]

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