What is the difference between this two sentences? I looked into the google,and found that these two sentences are used.
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2The first sounds more refined. Otherwise, equivalent to my mind. – David M Feb 20 '14 at 06:01
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While I got from one native speaker that probably the second pattern is more formal than the first. I am a little confused. – user115444 Feb 20 '14 at 06:04
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Both forms are correct and mean the same thing.
The adjective "above" can be used as a post-positive adjective. In some cases post-positive adjectives can vary the meaning of the sentence, but not in this case.
...above analysis... : normal adjective use
...analysis above... : post-positive adjective
In general, post-positive adjectives are rarer, and can signify archaic use. The post-positive adjective use looks more formal to many (due to the archaic nature / rarity of the construction in general), so I've seen it used commonly in formal contexts.
Edited: Thanks to Edwin pointing this out, I did a bit more research on how common each construction is. What I found is that until the 1990s "the above item" was more common than "the item above", but recently the latter construction has become more common [Link]. However, the use of "the below item" seems to be negligible compared to "the item below" [Link]
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@EdwinAshworth: Good point. I've definitely seen it around, but thinking about, it is not common. – Shisa Feb 20 '14 at 09:41
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There's a previous analysis at the linked duplicate thread (above)(!) – Edwin Ashworth Feb 20 '14 at 09:43
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@EdwinAshworth: 'the below N' sounds awkward but is becoming more popular. – Mitch Feb 20 '14 at 14:06
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Using "item" in your NGram links isn't very illuminating, because it's not all that common in OP's context. If we check the actual word "analysis" we see above almost always comes first (same for "example", but not quite so strongly). But these are somewhat specialised contexts - adjectival and adverbial above/below are usually post-positioned. – FumbleFingers Feb 20 '14 at 16:34
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Many thanks to the friends above. It seems that "the analysis above" is becoming more and more popular than "the above annalysis" does. In the meantime, probably "the analysis below" is formal while "the below analysis" is seldom accepted. Right? – user115444 Feb 20 '14 at 16:40