Timeline for The definite article "the" and known information
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:55 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://ell.stackexchange.com/ with https://ell.stackexchange.com/
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:38 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://english.stackexchange.com/ with https://english.stackexchange.com/
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| Jan 19, 2016 at 15:49 | comment | added | GoDucks | I suppose the following are felicitous: The traditional marriage is losing ground to the gay marriage and Many countries now support the gay marriage. Using the definite GNP is somewhat limited in usage, even with concrete count nouns. The plural GNP seems more common in many contexts, which seems to correspond to the abstract noun phrase with the zero-article. @DamkerngT. | |
| Jan 19, 2016 at 15:20 | comment | added | GoDucks | Of course tiger is a concrete noun and (gay) marriage is an abstract noun. I doubt The marriage is in danger of becoming obsolete is felicitous. I could say The traditional marriage is in danger of becoming obsolete. I find it difficult to think of the gay marriage as being capable of the same grammatical construction. The same applies to The Newtonian Physics or The Plane Geometry. @DamkerngT. | |
| Jan 19, 2016 at 15:09 | comment | added | Damkerng T. | I just realized that marriage is uncountable (I overlooked it in my first comment and focused too much on the the; actually, I wouldn't use 'the' in the 'marriage' sentence myself either.). Perhaps we don't normally use the for generic uncountable nouns in English. | |
| Jan 19, 2016 at 15:06 | comment | added | GoDucks | I'm not well versed on generic noun phrases (GNPs). I had never heard of them until two or three years ago, despite being a highly educated native speaker. All I can do is take sentences on a case by case basis. Thus note that The tiger at the Cincinnati Zoo is fed at noon is not generic. I am not sure if The tiger at the Cincinnati Zoo can ever be a GNP. This is the same as saying is there such a thing as the prototypical Cincinnati Zoo tiger? I don't know. @DamkerngT. | |
| Jan 19, 2016 at 11:37 | comment | added | Damkerng T. | I wonder if we can use the in the marriage sentence and read it the way we can with The tiger is in danger of becoming extinct. I'd like to link to this answer posted by John Lawler elsewhere: Re: A question about the generic use of articles and ask about your opinion, if you'd like to discuss it. Thank you in advance. | |
| Jan 19, 2016 at 6:25 | history | edited | GoDucks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 19, 2016 at 6:05 | history | edited | GoDucks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 19, 2016 at 6:00 | history | edited | GoDucks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 19, 2016 at 5:48 | history | answered | GoDucks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |