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Why is there an “a” before medium in the following sentence? Still, it seems unlikely that a miracle is being worked on so evanescent a medium. Thanks
2 Kas 2024 14:21
Yanıtlar · 7
1
I guess that 'medium' refers to the material on which a work of art has been made. 'A miracle is being worked' plays on the dual meaning of 'work' in this context: the working out of a miracle, and the creation of a work of art. Paper, card, wood, fabric, etc are examples of media in the production of artwork. Each of these is a 'medium' [a countable noun]. The particular medium referred to is one that may quickly dissipate, making it unlikely that the artwork will endure - that would be a miracle. All the above is guesswork on my part, and the reference may be quite different, but the logic of the expression would still apply.
3 Kas 2024 00:02
"so evanescent a medium" = "such an evanescent medium" "so delicious a dinner" = "such a delicious dinner" "so difficult a language" = "such a difficult language" ... and so forth. The difference between using "so" and "such" is that "so" is an adverb while "such" is a pronoun. Since "so" is an adverb, it is able to directly modify the adjective ("evanescent") whereas "such" can only do that indirectly.
3 Kas 2024 18:09
The standard construction is: It seems unlikely that a miracle is being worked on a medium which is so evanescent. There are multiple media. ‘A medium’ tells you it is one of those. ‘So’ tells you that it has a high degree of evanescence.
3 Kas 2024 15:23
As you may have noticed, 'medium' has several different definitions. It would be easier to answer this question if you provided more context.
3 Kas 2024 05:46
In that sentence, the "a" before "medium" is used to indicate that "medium" is being described in a particular way. The phrase "so evanescent a medium" is a stylistic choice, often seen in more formal or literary English. It emphasizes the quality of the medium by placing the adjective ("evanescent") before the article ("a"). This construction is a bit unusual in modern usage, but it adds a rhythmic and poetic feel to the sentence. Essentially, it could be rephrased as "a medium that is so evanescent."
2 Kas 2024 17:05
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