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Hanuman_2000 Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Number adjective

Sir,

As I know that the we put "the" before the ordinal number e.g:

He got the first prize in this competition.


But I am bit confused to read

He stood first in the class. Why "the" has not been used before "first" here .


thanks.
  

Top answer

"first" is an adverb in "He stood first in the class", not an adjective. It may be considered as a way of saying "how" or "where" he stood in the class, not "what kind of" something. If you have learned some principles regarding ordinals as adjectives, those principles won't apply when the ordinal is used as an adverb.

— CalifJim

  • "first" is an adverb in "He stood first in the class", not an adjective.
  • It may be considered as a way of saying "how" or "where" he stood in the class, not "what kind of" something.
  • If you have learned some principles regarding ordinals as adjectives, those principles won't apply when the ordinal is used as an adverb.
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2 Answers
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"first" is an adverb in "He stood first in the class", not an adjective. It may be considered as a way of saying "how" or "where" he stood in the class, not "what kind of" something. If you have learned some principles regarding ordinals as adjectives, those principles won't apply when the ordinal is used as an adverb.
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Sir,

Thanks for correcting the sentence and for giving valuable tips.


I have one more doubt.


Some girl or the other has eaten the eggs.

Please correct it and explain the use of " other".

"Other " is a pronoun or adjective.

thanks.
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