By Definite articles, Constructions

1. I have encountered this phrase from a post and have been wondering what is the main element involved here? Can you make this kind of sentences at your will or are there any rules involved? during the-period-after-the-surgery I think the main "bone" of the phrase is "during the surgery." 2....

And hello yet again, Hela! In the sentences in your first post there is only one adjective phrase: "very little", in sentence # 3. An adjective phrase is a construction that has an adjective as its "head" (the most important word. In "very little", "little" is the head -it's an adjective- and...

You are right, Paco. The word 'problem' is definitely a countable noun. That's why when I first encountered the expression 'have x problem -ing,' perhaps decades ago, I thought it's a rather unusual construction. This peculiarity compelled me to memorize the expression by rote then. Along the...

Hi Joana, You have an excellent command of English. I have made one or two minor suggestions, mostly to do with removing superfluous definite articles. Good luck. Dear Professor Xxxx Xxxx, I am writing to apply for the PhD in Environmental Risk Management at University of Xxxxx.. I...

The woman is a TV reporter who is standing in the hotel elevator. There's nothing wrong with this sentence. "Detective: I'm looking for two suspects: one is a man; the other, a woman. Here are their photos. Have you seen them? Helpful Janitor: Sure. The man is an executive who is...

Thanks, Eagle, Paco, and MisterM for all your painstaking posts! Much to chew on. 1. It's odd that both your and K's dictionaries give this structure, which I seldom if ever hear. Maybe it's more common elsewhere. Sorry, all: I should have been clearer. I meant the ‘Child as he was…’...

As far as I know, superlative can only work with the definite article. But when this Error Correction question comes up, I kinda lose my judgement. '(A most) useful tool (for analyzing) the elemental (composition of fossils) is the electron probe, a (modify) electron microscope. ' You see, if...

Hi MrP and Casi Here's another article supposedly relating to our discussion, which I just skimmed it. Sounds the construction " in a part of the entry of the indefinite article a like this: A follows the adjectives as in many a, such a, what a! and the obsolete or dialectal each a, which a; it...

Hello Paco First, I should answer your previous question about the 'emphatic forms with no reasonable normal form'. My thought here is that it's perfectly idiomatic to say: 'You are too good a cook to sack.' —which looks like the same construction as 'this is too tough a question to answer'....

Well, let me see if I can attack your concerns in a sort of slap-dash fashion. First, let me collect our sentences: 1: She is a too clever woman to stay in so boring a job. 1a: She is too clever a woman to stay in so boring a job. 2: She is too clever a woman to stay in such a boring job....