Is there a difference between the following two sentences?

1. It was too difficult a question to answer.
2. It was a question too difficult to answer.

Apple

The construction in Sentence 1 is peculiar to singular count nouns. When you have a singular count noun modified by "too" + adjective, you use

too +adjective + a + noun

Quirk et al.* state:

"...when an adjective phrase modified bytoo in turn modifies a singular count noun, the phrase precedes the indefinite article ...." (p. 1141)

Plural count nouns and noncount (mass) nouns do not participate in this construction. Quirk et al. state further,

"There is no plural or noncount equivalent for this construction. Instead, we have to postpose the adjective phrase: It's food too good to throw away; There are persons too good to swindle." (p. 1141)

I would volunteer that there are times when the "too" phrase is OK after the noun, for example, when the noun is the direct object and is followed by an infinitive clause:

"” He asked me too personal a question to answer OR

"” He asked me a question too personal to answer

This is because the postmodifier is a reduced adjective clause:

"” He asked me a question [that was] too personal to answer

Such is not the case in M.T.'s sentences, where "question" is the subject complement, not the direct object.

Marilyn