Timeline for Is it not correct to say "I have the brown eyes" instead of "I have brown eyes", and why?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
20 events
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| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:58 | comment | added | jpaugh | TBH, I can't think of anything better than, "I have brown eyes." The new example does fit the rule, and you do explain other things with it, too. Anyway, I just go with my gut, so your researched opinion will far more useful to others than mine. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:48 | comment | added | Mako212 | @jpaugh no problem, I agree those examples did nothing for the question. I just added a different example which I think highlights the issue better. Do you agree? | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:47 | history | edited | Mako212 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:35 | comment | added | jpaugh | You did a great job overall. I hope my comment didn't seem overly critical. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:35 | comment | added | Mako212 | @jpaugh Good point, removed them. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:34 | history | edited | Mako212 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2019 at 22:33 | comment | added | jpaugh | @Mako212 Your examples refer to adjectives, not to nouns. They don't fit the rule you want to establish, and the answer is better without them. In fact, it would be completely grammatical (if strange) to say, "I have hunger;" and that would make your examples match the rule you're stating. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 17:19 | comment | added | studog | @Kapten-N Bonus answer: One person has heterochromia. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 14:33 | comment | added | Kapten-N |
Another example where "I have the brown eyes" would be correct and you're actually talking about your own would be if you quantified the eyes of everyone in a room and asked who has which eyes (a very weird setup, I know) and you're the only one with brown eyes: In this room there are four blue eyes, one green eye and two brown eyes. Which ones do you have? I have the brown eyes. Bonus riddle: There's four people and one of the blue eyed people has lost an eye. How come the eyes add up the way the do?
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| Jan 8, 2019 at 6:53 | comment | added | Flater | @Blaszard: "the" is used very rarely for either specific cases (the mumps/the clap), or other (technically not grammatically correct) phrasings such as "I've got the ginge" (= I'm ginger). I'm not quite sure how to label the latter option. It uses "the" but it isn't really standard English, it's a more casual vernacular. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 2:19 | comment | added | Kevin | @travisw I wouldn't say so, no. Maybe I still have the boxes, but I still have the eyes themselves too. They just happen to be boxed still. Or maybe some fell out and I'm carrying them back. Either way, "I have the brown eyes." | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 19:23 | comment | added | J... |
@Mako212 Should have been more clear - I meant that I have the brown eyes is a valid, grammatical sentence that doesn't need to refer to a specific pair of eyes, but could refer to any specific collection of eyes. In my example the "brown eyes" can refer to either the box with a number of brown eyes in it, or it could refer to just the collection of eyes which are in the box. In any case, just to make the point that there are plenty of other ways in which I have the brown eyes could be grammatical.
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| Jan 7, 2019 at 19:10 | comment | added | Mako212 | @travisw I'm not sure what J is getting at with that example, beyond what's already been addressed in regards to specific/physical eyes in contrast to describing a physical trait. | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 18:56 | comment | added | travisw |
@J... Aren't you still just referencing the box(es) even though it's not explicitly mentioned in the response? I have the [boxes of] brown eyes...
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| Jan 7, 2019 at 18:28 | comment | added | J... |
For example : We've lost the boxes of eyes for assembling the dragon statues - has anyone seen them?. I have the brown eyes, but I haven't seen the box of blue ones.
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| Jan 7, 2019 at 18:22 | comment | added | otah007 | @Blaszard If the group is large enough, it ends up sounding general even though it actually isn't. For example, 'the people' refers to the people of a specific place, but if that place is an entire country then the phrase sounds extremely general. | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 17:30 | vote | accept | Blaszard | ||
| Jan 7, 2019 at 17:30 | comment | added | Blaszard | Thanks. I found that my answer was wrong since the sentence talks about the generality. But in English, is there a case where "the" is used to express the generality? | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 17:30 | review | First posts | |||
| Jan 7, 2019 at 17:47 | |||||
| Jan 7, 2019 at 17:25 | history | answered | Mako212 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |