Teacher Discussion Forums

I wonder if these sets are both possible. If so, do both mean the same thing?

1-1. an astonishing 50 years

1-2. 50 astonishing years

2-1. an additional five years

2-2. five additional years

3-1. an extra 10 doctors

3-2. 10 extra doctors

4-1. a full five minutes

4-2. five full minutes

5-1. an entire 24 hours

5-2. 24 entire hours

6-1. a staggering four million jobs

6-2. four million staggering jobs

7-1. a remarkable 50 people

7-2. 50 remarkable people


Thank you very much.

1-1. an astonishing 50 years (That's certainly a/one looong period of time!)
1-2. 50 astonishing years (Each and every year of those 50 was astonishing - something incredible was happening literally every second) Hmm, I don't know though, maybe they are interchangeable?

2-1. an additional five years
2-2. five additional years
Little discernible difference in meaning to me between 2-1 and 2-2. What would be more worthwhile studying is the extra cotext (>context) with either (e.g. there'd no difference if they both were inserted into 'It took...to complete').

3-1. an extra 10 doctors
3-2. 10 extra doctors
Again, can't see much difference myself.

4-1. a full five minutes
4-2. five full minutes
Similar to the first pair of sentences. The meaning of 'full' in 'Five full minutes' will be much more varied (depending on the context) than a mere 'length of time measured' (4-1).

5-1. an entire 24 hours
5-2. 24 entire hours (Probably less usual than 5-1, or indeed '24 hours'...yup, Google gets me 831 hits versus 49 respectively).

6-1. a staggering four million jobs (That sure is a lot of jobs!)
6-2. four million staggering jobs ( Not quite sure what a 'staggering job' is...sounds like it could be unpleasantly hard work!)

7-1. a remarkable 50 people (A fair number to turn up for a housewarming party for a Stimpson C. Cat)
7-2. 50 remarkable people (I wonder if Chomsky is counted among them?)

Thank you very much, fluffyhamster.