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Sextus Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Adjective or adverb?

"In S.’ other writings one finds the Skeptic’s distinctive agnostic attitude coexisting with negative conclusions."



I think I should say "distinctively", right?



Sextus
  

Top answer

I would say ' distinctive agnostic attitude' is correct. Because 'distinctive' in 'distinctive agnostic' means something like 'unique, particular'. So the adjective fits the context better than the adverb.

— Katarina

  • I would say ' distinctive agnostic attitude' is correct.
  • Because 'distinctive' in 'distinctive agnostic' means something like 'unique, particular'.
  • So the adjective fits the context better than the adverb.
  • " However, this sentence would have a slightly different meaning than the original.
  • For other readers, please correct me if I'm wrong.
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2 Answers
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I would say 'distinctive agnostic attitude' is correct. Because 'distinctive' in 'distinctive agnostic' means something like 'unique, particular'. So the adjective fits the context better than the adverb.

If you insist on using the adverb 'distinctively' then I would suggest the following constuction:

"In S' other writings one finds distinctively the Skeptic'
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I think both are possible. If you use "a [distinctive (agnostic attitude)]", I will take you mean the agnostic attitude is different from other agnostic attitudes. If you use "a [(distinctively agnostic) attitude]", I will take you mean the agnosticism (=the way of being agnostic) found in the attitude is different from other sort of agnosticism.

Google gives us 628 hits for "a distinct
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