"Youngest daughter" or "younger daughter" in a family with the

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Here is a list of the names and ages of siblings to which my question will refer:
John, 20 years old
Elizabeth, 18 years old
Samantha, 16 years old
Mark, 13 years old
Which is the correct statement when referring to the relative age of Samantha, and more importantly, why?
1. "Samantha is the younger daughter."
2. "Samantha is the youngest daughter."

I recently encountered this and the person insisted that the first statement is the only correct one, because there is yet someone younger, namely, the son.

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[nq:1]Here is a list of the names and ages of siblings to which my question will refer: John, 20 years ... person insisted that the first statement is the only correct one, because there is yet someone younger, namely, the son.[/nq]
Your meaning in either statement is absolutely clear to me. The first statement is the better of the two because it hints at just two daughters. Neither statement even hints of male siblings, but that's not necessary.

Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

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[nq:1]1. "Samantha is the younger daughter." 2. "Samantha is the youngest daughter." I recently encountered this and the person insisted that the first statement is the only correct one, because there is yet someone younger, namely, the son.[/nq]
Not 100% sure here; but the statement specifically refers to daughters, so the sons are not relevant.
Therefore, arguably, "youngest" is technically correct. But as there are but two daughters, one's older, one's younger.

So there's a case for saying that both are right. (1) most certainly is.
Andrew
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"Adrian" (Email Removed) a écrit dans le message de [nq:1]Here is a list of the names and ages of siblings to which my question will refer: John, 20 years ... person insisted that the first statement is the only correct one, because there is yet someone younger, namely, the son.[/nq]
Didn't you mean that person said the SECOND statement is the only correct one?
Anyway, doesn't "the youngest daughter" imply that there are at least three daughters? Which would mean only "the younger daughter" is correct here.

As Andrew said, the sons are irrelevant. We're talking about daughters only. If I have two cars, the smaller one, and the bigger one, I'm not going to look at how many motorcycles I have to decide whether I should say "my bigger car" or "my biggest car". It's "bigger", not "biggest", two cars. And that's it.

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I've always thought that the comparative (xxxER or MORE ***) is used when speaking about exactly two things, and that the superlative (xxxEST or MOST ***) is used when talking about three or more things. But I had occassion just yesterday to lookup comparatives and superlatives in Michael Swan's "Basic English Usage" and found the following: "We use the comparative to compare one person or thing with (an)other person(s) or things(s). We use the superlative to compare one person or thing with his/her/its whole group."
Surprise one was that the comparative can be used to compare one thing to two things. At first I couldn't imagine an example, but then I came up with "He's younger than the twins (or his sisters or the other kids in the class)."Surprise two was that he says nothing about the size of the group when he says that the superlative can be used to compare one thing to its group. But he then gives the following example: "Your accent is the worst in the class." And I don't think that that statement rules out the possibility that there are only two people in the class. And I think I can image someone saying "Well, in my opinion you are the dumbest person in the room." when there is only one other person in the room.

Of course that may be like an intentional use of "ain't" which I sometimes do. And, thinking about it, we even use the superlative for a group of one. "That's a nice car. ... Well, I bought it used, but it's my first car so it's the nicest one I've ever owned."
You have to conclude that English is more difficult than all other languages!
Bob

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[nq:2]1. "Samantha is the younger daughter." 2. "Samantha is the ... one, because there is yet someone younger, namely, the son.[/nq]
[nq:1]Not 100% sure here; but the statement specifically refers to daughters, so the sons are not relevant. Therefore, arguably, "youngest" is technically correct.[/nq]
What's the difference between technically correct and correct?

And why is youngest technically correct? You say "therefore", so it seems something in your first two lines gives the reason, but I can't imagine what.

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[nq:1]Surprise one was that the comparative can be used to compare one thing to two things. At first I couldn't imagine an example, but then I came up with "He's younger than the twins (or his sisters or the other kids in the class)."[/nq]
No surprise. The comparative is used to compare. When you compare, you compare two things. Even if one of the things is a group of things. But basically, it's always two things.
The superlative is used to describe something as superior (in some way or other) to all the rest. It implies more than two things.
[nq:1]Surprise two was that he says nothing about the size of the group when he says that the superlative can ... And I don't think that that statement rules out the possibility that there are only two people in the class.[/nq]
But using "worse" here wouldn't work, because it would imply two people (the worse "of the two") and the effect (irony or humour) wanted by the speaker would be lost. He has to use "the worst", because he used "in class".
[nq:1]And I think I can image someone saying "Well, in my opinion you are the dumbest person in the room."[/nq]
Same thing.
[nq:1]when there is only one other person in the room. Of course that may be like an intentional use of ... car. ... Well, I bought it used, but it's my first car so it's the nicest one I've ever owned."[/nq]
Same thing. Stylistic effect.
[nq:1]You have to conclude that English is more difficult than all other languages![/nq]
I wouldn't conclude that.

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[nq:1]Here is a list of the names and ages of siblings to which my question will refer: John, 20 years ... correct statement when referring to the relative age of Samantha, and more importantly, why? 1. "Samantha is the younger daughter."[/nq]
Correct.
[nq:1]2. "Samantha is the youngest daughter."[/nq]
Not correct, but very common.
Two daughters, thus older and younger. Even 27 sons would not enter into this discussion.
GFH

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[nq:1]You have to conclude that English is more difficult than all other languages![/nq]
Try Polish.

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[nq:1]Here is a list of the names and ages of siblings to which my question will refer: John, 20 years ... person insisted that the first statement is the only correct one, because there is yet someone younger, namely, the son.[/nq]
The sons are irrelevant where "daughter" is specified, so the insister's reason is quite wrong. But strictly speaking, "the youngest" implies that at least three ages are being compared, while "the younger" complements "the older" of a pair. As with "between" vs "among" and "alternate" vs "rotate", failing to observe this distinction in informal contexts is scarcely exceptionable, but where correctness is important you should indeed choose #1.

Odysseus

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