another vs. "an other"

ChrisB2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

another vs. "an other"

I encountered this question in a quiz and got it wrong:

"Manon aime une autre personne." means:

Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, or the translation isn't quite literal in English, but the correct answer "Manon loves another person" seems to imply something different.  I read this as "Manon loves [a different] person."  To say that Manon loves another person implies to me that she may love more than one person.  For example, if I said "J'ai une autre voiture," am I saying I have 2 cars now, or that I have a different/new car?

Asked 4 years ago
AlanC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

I think French and English are both ambiguous here. According to the Cambridge dictionary, you can't make the distinction between "another" and "an other" - it should always be written "another".

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/other-others-the-other-or-another

 

another vs. "an other"

I encountered this question in a quiz and got it wrong:

"Manon aime une autre personne." means:

Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, or the translation isn't quite literal in English, but the correct answer "Manon loves another person" seems to imply something different.  I read this as "Manon loves [a different] person."  To say that Manon loves another person implies to me that she may love more than one person.  For example, if I said "J'ai une autre voiture," am I saying I have 2 cars now, or that I have a different/new car?

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