Hi,
Could you please confirm whether the below two sentences are correct and have same meaning?
1.I am hard core fan of Mahatma Gandhi.
2.I am die hard fan of Mahatma Gandhi.
Regards,
William
They both require the indefinite article after ‘am’ but other than that they are grammatically okay and have the same general meaning. Gandhi seems a strange subject to be using terms like ‘hard core’ and ‘die hard’ about though, that would not be usual.
Use a/an before count nouns (‘fan’, here) in similar contexts.
To me, these two terms are mostly associated with references carrying unpleasant connotations. You may say: He is a hard-core criminal. They are die-hard extremists.
Because you have added the indefinite article in brackets, it now looks as if they are optional, though of course they are not.
I disagree that the adjectives in question are necessarily negative.
They do not fit with the context because:
The first indicates a way of behaving that will not change.
The second indicates someone opposed to change and new ideas.
Someone who wishes to live their lives by Gandhi’s principles would not be resistant to all change.