Is it correct to say moon starry nights?
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I'm trying to say very briefly that the night was starry and there was the moon also.
Question
Is it correct to say moon starry night? If not, do you see any option?
Edit
Maybe mooned starry nights?
meaning meaning-in-context phrase-request
add a comment |
I'm trying to say very briefly that the night was starry and there was the moon also.
Question
Is it correct to say moon starry night? If not, do you see any option?
Edit
Maybe mooned starry nights?
meaning meaning-in-context phrase-request
add a comment |
I'm trying to say very briefly that the night was starry and there was the moon also.
Question
Is it correct to say moon starry night? If not, do you see any option?
Edit
Maybe mooned starry nights?
meaning meaning-in-context phrase-request
I'm trying to say very briefly that the night was starry and there was the moon also.
Question
Is it correct to say moon starry night? If not, do you see any option?
Edit
Maybe mooned starry nights?
meaning meaning-in-context phrase-request
meaning meaning-in-context phrase-request
edited Apr 2 at 1:24
ColleenV♦
10.5k53261
10.5k53261
asked Mar 31 at 20:36
santimirandarpsantimirandarp
1681110
1681110
add a comment |
add a comment |
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
Normally if it is a moonlit night, the stars are not as bright as they are on a night without a moon, but if you mean to say that the night has both a moon and bright stars, you could say that many ways:
"The sky was lit by the moon and the stars."
"The night was starry and moonlit."
"It was a starry, moonlit night."
etc.
But "moon starry night" does not sound idiomatic at all to me.
5
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
1
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
6
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
8
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
4
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
|
show 3 more comments
I can see nothing wrong with "It was a starry night and the moon was also shining". Or just "The moon and stars were shining".
We don't say "a moony night", the phrase "a starry night" is something of a fixed idiom.
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
add a comment |
It's fine to say starry night - here, starry is a adjective applied to the noun night.
We can't say moon night - we need to turn moon into a adjective. One guess might be moony, but if we look that up, it has very different meaning. The word we're looking for is moonlit, which is an adjective we could use here:
It was a moonlit starry night.
add a comment |
Other answerers have already pointed out that
It was a starry moonlit night.
fulfills your request adequately. However, word choice can also depend on context — is this supposed to sound poetic? archaic? matter-of-fact?
The night was lit by the moon and stars above.
The only source of light was the moon and stars.
The stars, almost as bright as the full moon, cast a mystical light over the scene below.
Deneb and Aldebaran blazed cheerily as always, but for once there was only a single moon in the sky.
On a night when both the moon and the stars are visible, set up your telescope on the highest point you can find.
In other words, it's hardly necessary to state that the night was lit by the moon and stars; those are by definition the things that are out at night. We don't see many sunlit nights! (At least not at my latitude.) So if you're explicitly mentioning the moon and stars, there must be a reason for it. Find that reason and work it in. With more creative possibilities, you'll have correspondingly less need to worry about one particular construction sounding stilted.
Also notice that while the moon comes and goes, the stars are always "out" — unless it's cloudy. Thus another option:
The night was moonlit and clear.
add a comment |
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
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oldest
votes
Normally if it is a moonlit night, the stars are not as bright as they are on a night without a moon, but if you mean to say that the night has both a moon and bright stars, you could say that many ways:
"The sky was lit by the moon and the stars."
"The night was starry and moonlit."
"It was a starry, moonlit night."
etc.
But "moon starry night" does not sound idiomatic at all to me.
5
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
1
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
6
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
8
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
4
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
|
show 3 more comments
Normally if it is a moonlit night, the stars are not as bright as they are on a night without a moon, but if you mean to say that the night has both a moon and bright stars, you could say that many ways:
"The sky was lit by the moon and the stars."
"The night was starry and moonlit."
"It was a starry, moonlit night."
etc.
But "moon starry night" does not sound idiomatic at all to me.
5
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
1
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
6
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
8
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
4
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
|
show 3 more comments
Normally if it is a moonlit night, the stars are not as bright as they are on a night without a moon, but if you mean to say that the night has both a moon and bright stars, you could say that many ways:
"The sky was lit by the moon and the stars."
"The night was starry and moonlit."
"It was a starry, moonlit night."
etc.
But "moon starry night" does not sound idiomatic at all to me.
Normally if it is a moonlit night, the stars are not as bright as they are on a night without a moon, but if you mean to say that the night has both a moon and bright stars, you could say that many ways:
"The sky was lit by the moon and the stars."
"The night was starry and moonlit."
"It was a starry, moonlit night."
etc.
But "moon starry night" does not sound idiomatic at all to me.
answered Mar 31 at 20:54
Lorel C.Lorel C.
4,5091410
4,5091410
5
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
1
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
6
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
8
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
4
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
|
show 3 more comments
5
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
1
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
6
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
8
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
4
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
5
5
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
Unfortunately, "moon" as a verb has a couple of meanings that have nothing to do with the actual moon in the sky: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moon - so if you tried to use "mooned" with the intended meaning "with the moon visible" that would not work.
– Mixolydian
Mar 31 at 21:09
1
1
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
"It was a moon-starry night" could be poetic and very nice in the right context.
– MackTuesday
Apr 1 at 0:04
6
6
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
Poetry isn't what English learners are usually aiming for at first. It can be very confusing to try to comprehend. But yes, I do see what you mean about the moon-starry night. It has a pretty sound.
– Lorel C.
Apr 1 at 0:30
8
8
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
Or "moonlit, starry night"? (Most similar to the question's initial form...)
– Stobor
Apr 1 at 3:56
4
4
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
@Stobor FWIW, I think "it was a starry moonlit night" is slightly more natural than "it was a moonlit starry night," in the same way that "a big red rubber ball" is more natural than "a red big rubber ball." It might just be due to "starry night" being a recognizable allusion, so breaking up the phrase helps eliminate that allusion from the reader's mind.
– Quuxplusone
Apr 1 at 15:23
|
show 3 more comments
I can see nothing wrong with "It was a starry night and the moon was also shining". Or just "The moon and stars were shining".
We don't say "a moony night", the phrase "a starry night" is something of a fixed idiom.
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
add a comment |
I can see nothing wrong with "It was a starry night and the moon was also shining". Or just "The moon and stars were shining".
We don't say "a moony night", the phrase "a starry night" is something of a fixed idiom.
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
add a comment |
I can see nothing wrong with "It was a starry night and the moon was also shining". Or just "The moon and stars were shining".
We don't say "a moony night", the phrase "a starry night" is something of a fixed idiom.
I can see nothing wrong with "It was a starry night and the moon was also shining". Or just "The moon and stars were shining".
We don't say "a moony night", the phrase "a starry night" is something of a fixed idiom.
answered Mar 31 at 20:51
James KJames K
40.5k143101
40.5k143101
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
add a comment |
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
Well we could say a moony night if we had a lot of moons.
– Joshua
Apr 1 at 16:23
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
@Joshua we could also say it if members of the Unification Church were out in force... :)
– RonJohn
Apr 1 at 22:57
add a comment |
It's fine to say starry night - here, starry is a adjective applied to the noun night.
We can't say moon night - we need to turn moon into a adjective. One guess might be moony, but if we look that up, it has very different meaning. The word we're looking for is moonlit, which is an adjective we could use here:
It was a moonlit starry night.
add a comment |
It's fine to say starry night - here, starry is a adjective applied to the noun night.
We can't say moon night - we need to turn moon into a adjective. One guess might be moony, but if we look that up, it has very different meaning. The word we're looking for is moonlit, which is an adjective we could use here:
It was a moonlit starry night.
add a comment |
It's fine to say starry night - here, starry is a adjective applied to the noun night.
We can't say moon night - we need to turn moon into a adjective. One guess might be moony, but if we look that up, it has very different meaning. The word we're looking for is moonlit, which is an adjective we could use here:
It was a moonlit starry night.
It's fine to say starry night - here, starry is a adjective applied to the noun night.
We can't say moon night - we need to turn moon into a adjective. One guess might be moony, but if we look that up, it has very different meaning. The word we're looking for is moonlit, which is an adjective we could use here:
It was a moonlit starry night.
answered Apr 1 at 13:26
Toby SpeightToby Speight
1,184515
1,184515
add a comment |
add a comment |
Other answerers have already pointed out that
It was a starry moonlit night.
fulfills your request adequately. However, word choice can also depend on context — is this supposed to sound poetic? archaic? matter-of-fact?
The night was lit by the moon and stars above.
The only source of light was the moon and stars.
The stars, almost as bright as the full moon, cast a mystical light over the scene below.
Deneb and Aldebaran blazed cheerily as always, but for once there was only a single moon in the sky.
On a night when both the moon and the stars are visible, set up your telescope on the highest point you can find.
In other words, it's hardly necessary to state that the night was lit by the moon and stars; those are by definition the things that are out at night. We don't see many sunlit nights! (At least not at my latitude.) So if you're explicitly mentioning the moon and stars, there must be a reason for it. Find that reason and work it in. With more creative possibilities, you'll have correspondingly less need to worry about one particular construction sounding stilted.
Also notice that while the moon comes and goes, the stars are always "out" — unless it's cloudy. Thus another option:
The night was moonlit and clear.
add a comment |
Other answerers have already pointed out that
It was a starry moonlit night.
fulfills your request adequately. However, word choice can also depend on context — is this supposed to sound poetic? archaic? matter-of-fact?
The night was lit by the moon and stars above.
The only source of light was the moon and stars.
The stars, almost as bright as the full moon, cast a mystical light over the scene below.
Deneb and Aldebaran blazed cheerily as always, but for once there was only a single moon in the sky.
On a night when both the moon and the stars are visible, set up your telescope on the highest point you can find.
In other words, it's hardly necessary to state that the night was lit by the moon and stars; those are by definition the things that are out at night. We don't see many sunlit nights! (At least not at my latitude.) So if you're explicitly mentioning the moon and stars, there must be a reason for it. Find that reason and work it in. With more creative possibilities, you'll have correspondingly less need to worry about one particular construction sounding stilted.
Also notice that while the moon comes and goes, the stars are always "out" — unless it's cloudy. Thus another option:
The night was moonlit and clear.
add a comment |
Other answerers have already pointed out that
It was a starry moonlit night.
fulfills your request adequately. However, word choice can also depend on context — is this supposed to sound poetic? archaic? matter-of-fact?
The night was lit by the moon and stars above.
The only source of light was the moon and stars.
The stars, almost as bright as the full moon, cast a mystical light over the scene below.
Deneb and Aldebaran blazed cheerily as always, but for once there was only a single moon in the sky.
On a night when both the moon and the stars are visible, set up your telescope on the highest point you can find.
In other words, it's hardly necessary to state that the night was lit by the moon and stars; those are by definition the things that are out at night. We don't see many sunlit nights! (At least not at my latitude.) So if you're explicitly mentioning the moon and stars, there must be a reason for it. Find that reason and work it in. With more creative possibilities, you'll have correspondingly less need to worry about one particular construction sounding stilted.
Also notice that while the moon comes and goes, the stars are always "out" — unless it's cloudy. Thus another option:
The night was moonlit and clear.
Other answerers have already pointed out that
It was a starry moonlit night.
fulfills your request adequately. However, word choice can also depend on context — is this supposed to sound poetic? archaic? matter-of-fact?
The night was lit by the moon and stars above.
The only source of light was the moon and stars.
The stars, almost as bright as the full moon, cast a mystical light over the scene below.
Deneb and Aldebaran blazed cheerily as always, but for once there was only a single moon in the sky.
On a night when both the moon and the stars are visible, set up your telescope on the highest point you can find.
In other words, it's hardly necessary to state that the night was lit by the moon and stars; those are by definition the things that are out at night. We don't see many sunlit nights! (At least not at my latitude.) So if you're explicitly mentioning the moon and stars, there must be a reason for it. Find that reason and work it in. With more creative possibilities, you'll have correspondingly less need to worry about one particular construction sounding stilted.
Also notice that while the moon comes and goes, the stars are always "out" — unless it's cloudy. Thus another option:
The night was moonlit and clear.
answered Apr 1 at 15:41
QuuxplusoneQuuxplusone
34116
34116
add a comment |
add a comment |
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