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I just edited this answer on unix.sx. The original sentence was

But it won't transform it to an other format.

I changed this to

But it won't transform it to another format.

The second form is standard, but is the first correct?

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There is the possibility that you should have corrected it to "any other" instead of "another"... :-) – Hellion Jan 31 '12 at 3:57
@Hellion: What is the difference between these? – Faheem Mitha Jan 31 '12 at 4:12
“Any other” and “another” are very similar in meaning, but not always interchangeable. “He loves another woman” means a particular woman. “He loves any other woman” means he is not so particular. – MετάEd Jan 31 '12 at 15:24
@MetaEd: Sure. My question was about which was more suitable in this context, and why. – Faheem Mitha Jan 31 '12 at 16:12
When things are promoted or defended solely because of fashion or tradition, it means there is no real justification. Hence my skepticism every time there is mention of either word. – user27283 Oct 11 '12 at 8:05

1 Answer

up vote 4 down vote accepted

The string an other is vanishingly rare in English. In contrast another is positively pervasive. I think it would be fair to say that the second has eclipsed the first to the point of making the first unacceptable, even though it is a grammatical string.

Both an and another are members of the category of determiners, while other, on the other hand, is an adjective. There's no grammatical reason why DET + ADJ would unacceptable. So, it must simply be a matter of convention that makes an other unacceptable.

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