Friday, October 5, 2018

word usage - "Many a year" vs. "many years"



so soon they were all seated at Beorn's table, and half had not seen such a gathering for many a year.




Why is many a year used? Should not many years be used?
What is the difference between many a year and many years?



Answer



"Many years" has always been the preferred and more grammatical usage:


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"Many a year" as barbara points out is almost exclusively used as a poetic or stylistic variant, but in normal English you should use "many years" instead.


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