5

I was doing my homework when I came across a question

"The Evrovision song contest is one of the most popular (entertain) programmes on television"

I wrote "entertaining" but the correct answer is "enertainment". I don't really understand why. Is it because we can't use another adjective after superlative one? Is it even possible to say "entertaining program" or is it always "entertainment program"?

5
  • 10
    The questioner is just expecting a category of program (compare "crime program" or "travel program") rather than a descriptive adjective. Normally, if you were going to put two descriptive adjectives back-to-back, there'd be a comma between them, "one of the most popular, entertaining programs" or it would be "one of the most popular and entertaining".
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 17 at 13:43
  • @TimR It's worth noting that "descriptive" is not redundant in this comment. If there were several more popular boring programmes, inserting a comma would be wrong, because "entertaining" would be being used to limit the scope of "one of the most popular", rather than descriptively.
    – mudri
    Commented Nov 18 at 10:07
  • @mudri Your comment seems to rest on a paradox: the existence of popular yet boring programmes.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 18 at 13:16
  • @TimR The news, maybe?
    – mudri
    Commented Nov 18 at 22:59
  • @mudri If only that were true.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 19 at 0:13

1 Answer 1

17

They mean two different things:

entertaining program

means a program that people enjoy watching because it delights them or entertains them.

entertainment program

means a program that is in the "entertainment" category. The focus is more on the category than the program.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .