Grammar Tip: ''Shining Trinket' or 'Shiny Trinket'?

Recently, we wrote a story about a robbery. In the story, the robber had snatched the victim's necklace and was running away with it.


Some of the pupils became a little confused between 'shining' and 'shiny' and wrote:

He was holding a shining trinket in his hand.


'Shining' actually means 'emitting or reflecting light' (The Concise Oxford Dictionary) . Some will argue that the sentence is not wrong because the necklace does reflect light. Put that way, every visible thing reflects light. Your desk reflects light. Your uniform reflects light. Your worksheet reflects light. Does that make them 'shining'?




The best way to understand the meaning of 'shining' as per the dictionary's definition is to think of a big piece of stainless steel or mirror. These will reflect light and can hence be 'shining'. A necklace does not reflect light like stainless steel so it is not 'shining' but 'shiny'.

Unless your necklace glows like the one in this picture,
please describe it as 'shiny'.

'Shiny' : having a shine; glistening; polished; bright (The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

This is the sort of necklace that
most of us have; it glistens
and catches the light; it is shiny.