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Anonymous  #499012  Thu, 10 Apr 08 03:51 PM

Hey everyone.

I've asked a number of people about this but unfortunately they're all clueless.

 

I generally know when and how to use words such as ironic/ironical, narcissistic/narsissistical, idiotic/idiotical etcetra - but sometimes I have no idea. For instance, there's no doubt in my mind that 'educational' is 100 % gramatically correct in the following sentence: "It was a very educational experience". But I have no idea which to use in the following senteces: 'I'm a narcissistic/narcissistcal ***" & "In an ironic/ironical manner".

 

Hope I've made myself clear! Thanks in advance,

 AA.

  
Philip  #499013  Thu, 10 Apr 08 04:02 PM
My dictionary makes no distinction between ironic and ironically; it does not offer narcissistical, except to form the adverb.  Check your dictionary and see if it agrees with mine (American Heritage).
  
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Avangi  #499043  Thu, 10 Apr 08 05:35 PM

Your examples all call for adjectives.  The one you said you were sure about is "educational." If the other option is "education" it wouldn't work because it's a noun. "It was a very education experience"?

The ones you were unsure of each seem to be a pair of (1) an adjective, and (2) a [psuedo] adjective, or an incorrect or nonexistent form of the word, often incorrectly used by many people. (Sorry, both ironic and ironical are acceptable as adjectives.  Ironically is the adverb.) 

As Philip suggests, your dictionary should make it clear which one exists as an adjective and which one is either some other part of speech, or doesn't exist at all.

For example, idiotical and narcissistical don't exist.  The adjectives end in "c" and the adverbs go to "cally."   Egotist, on the other hand, allows both egotistic and egotistical as adjectives, with egotistically as the adverb.  Irony works the same way as egotist.  You just have to look them up.

Perhaps if you need a rule of thumb, when you're trying to decide between a short one ending in "c" and a longer one ending in "l", go for the short one.

Best regards,  - A.

  
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Anonymous  #499102  Thu, 10 Apr 08 08:27 PM

Thanks a lot!

  
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