Hi! I used to learn that a definite article "the" plus an adjective word can turn into a noun, eg "the rich". Are the following two sentences applying this usage? Or, could you help summarize what thi

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Shana

Hi! I used to learn that a definite article "the" plus an adjective word can turn into a noun, eg "the rich". Are the following two sentences applying this usage? Or, could you help summarize what this usage is? 😥 1. "He is one of *the most influential* in China". (According to dictionary, "influential" can be a noun, so maybe this is not an instance for the rule "the+adjective word=noun"? ) 2. “These brands are starting to attract *the most fashionable* of the country's huge luxury-consumption population” (How I would write: "These brands are starting to attract the most fashionable *people* who come from the country's luxury-consumption population")

Dec 17, 2023 8:51 AM

Answers · 6

You’re right ; ‘the most influential’ and ‘the most fashionable’ both mean ‘people’, and this is understood. Both are noun phrases, consisting of a noun ‘people’ [understood, though not stated], an adjective [influential, fashionable] and an adverb [most]. ‘The rich’ is similar, but in this case we don’t think of ‘people’ as a missing word because the phrase ‘the rich’ has become well established.

December 17, 2023

I would make changes to #2. I would say "among" instead of "of". I don't like "luxury-consumption population", though it's not wrong. You are using a noun as an adjective, which is legal, but why not use something that looks more like an adjective: "the luxury consuming population" ?

December 17, 2023

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