Pedants' corner
We are all made different
Chewbecca · 12/02/2023 16:06
I’ve just watched an ad on TV (for Spoke trousers) with this tag line. Is it grammatically correct?
Should it be ‘differently’?
‘we are all different’ sounds fine but the addition of ‘made’ makes it sound off to me but I don’t know why!
VeronicaBeccabunga · 12/02/2023 16:28
I agree that it sounds wrong.
However I'm not entirely sure why.
Being made 'different' does sound as if we all differ from one another, which I what I think they mean.
I feel that making things differently might mean that each thing is made in a different way though: 'I made these cakes differently, this one was mixed by hand and the other was made in my food processor'
upinaballoon · 12/02/2023 20:55
My friend and I are different. Surely the word 'different' is an adjective here, so it's correct. My 'friend' is a noun and 'I' am a pronoun so we are qualified by an adjective.
When I introduce the verb 'to make' I would expect to qualify the verb with an adverb, not with an adjective, so I would say, "My friend and I are made differently", or "We are all made differently".
So1invictus · 17/02/2023 20:08
"differently" would be more usual as it's the adverb used to describe the action "make" as pp said.
However, you could argue in the original sentence that "different" is maybe used to qualify the "we" and so is correct. (Imagine inserting a "to be" after "made" and "different" makes more sense)
It wouldn't be the usual interpretation of the syntax in that sentence but if that's what the writer intended to qualify, then it's OK. (I doubt it was though, and agree it should probably be "differently")
upinaballoon · 17/02/2023 22:17
So1invictus · 17/02/2023 20:08
"differently" would be more usual as it's the adverb used to describe the action "make" as pp said.
However, you could argue in the original sentence that "different" is maybe used to qualify the "we" and so is correct. (Imagine inserting a "to be" after "made" and "different" makes more sense)
It wouldn't be the usual interpretation of the syntax in that sentence but if that's what the writer intended to qualify, then it's OK. (I doubt it was though, and agree it should probably be "differently")
After I'd written what I did on 12th it came back into my thoughts later and I did wonder if I agreed with myself.🙂 Your point about putting in 'to be' is a good one.
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