一个漂亮的女孩 vs. 漂亮的一个女孩

[Yorin]

In the Chinese texts I've read so far, I've seen both the word order "一个...的..." and "...的一个..." used. A Google search for the expressions listed in the title will give a similar amount of results.

But I haven't figured out yet if these are just interchangeable in any kind of sentence, of if there is a case in which one of them must be used. Or if there is a difference in emphasis or anything. As far as I know, it's not possible to change the word order for the possessive 的, as in "我的一个朋友". But any further help and examples would be welcome!

[陳德聰]

They're not interchangeable in every kind of sentence, and 漂亮的一个女孩 doesn't sound right by itself.

 

那么漂亮的一个女孩, 为什么会喜欢那么猥琐的一个人?

多漂亮的一个女孩!

我的孩子才十二岁, 很漂亮的一个女孩...

 

Just from my feeling it seems to have to do with focus. The focus in the adjective-first constructions is the adjective phrase rather than the noun, where the mention of the girl is not the important information, and maybe she has been mentioned before.

[Yorin]

Thank you!

What if the noun has no measure word? I have only seen adjective-first constructions like "今天是很忙的一天" in this case. "一很忙的天" doesn't seem correct.

[Michaelyus]

Again, focal emphasis. 今天 | 是... 的一天。

[陳德聰]

You're right that it isn't correct. They're not interchangeable!

[Yorin]

谢谢！

[歐博思]

In the Yip Po Ching Comprehensive CHinese Grammar book, there is a section dedicated to just this topic of where to place the measure word in relation to the other sentence modifiers. Unfortunately I don't have a copy on hand at the moment, but surely someone else does and can chime in

 

 

Sometimes contra to the typical order of the modifiers established in that book, however, I have noticed a tendency for longer strings of attributives before a single noun to call for the measure word to become closer and closer to the noun being modified.