An other question

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:25 am

Does 'an other' (or 'an Other' etc) mean quite the same thing as 'another'?

Buddhaheart · Post by **Buddhaheart** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:16 pm

In general, 'an other' DOESN’T mean quite the same thing as 'another' either as an adjective or a pronoun. Except in some cases where ‘an + other’ is written as ‘another’, ‘an other’ & ‘another’ may have the same meaning.

Examples as an adjective:

1. Have another (not the same as "an other") piece of cake.
2. That’s another (not the same as "an other") matter altogether.

Examples as a pronoun:

1. He asked for another (not the same as "an other").
2. Give me another (not the same as "an other").

Examine this example: “My mother is a singer, my sister is an other (or another).” “Other” means “other one, other person”; “another” means “one more, one of the same kind”. In this example, the 2 pronouns convey the same meaning.

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:27 am

I'm not convinced, I'm afraid. The only (!) problem with these "an other" examples is that I can't easily imagine any of them being used, although I grant that the hypothetical meaning is right.

Surely almost everybody would use "Have a different piece of cake"
Or "Have the other piece of cake" or "Have one of the other pieces of cake" and not:

* "Have an other piece of cake"

To be honest "an other" sounds more like something do do with Sartre.

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:50 am

Only 14 BNC results for "an other". Nearly all should be "another" if you ask me,

http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/sa ... y=an+other

apart from the Sartre one (I knew it rang a bell, something to do with alienation? What I know about JPS can be written on a pinhead) and that one about "an other ranks' jacket".