Sentence: "You've got to the count of five to let me out of here." (it's from futurama first episode.).
Why in this sentence is definite-article? Is "count" a noun in this sentence?
1
-
1It's an idiomatically established usage where dissecting the actual "grammar" won't necessarily help you much, but I'd guess "count" here refers to any number within the sequence the speaker is about to enumerate. Where the count refers specifically to [speaking out loud] the value "five" - when speaker reaches that number, the specified condition has been reached, so the addressee must release the speaker.– FumbleFingersCommented Apr 10, 2021 at 12:38
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
"You've got to the count of five to let me out of here."
Q. Why in this sentence is definite-article?
A. By using the definite-article the, we’ve shown that it was one specific count that we are relating too.
Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific. Consider the following example:
After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good.
By using the article the, we’ve shown that it was one specific day that was long and one specific cup of tea that tasted good.
After a long day, a cup of tea tastes particularly good.
By using the article a, we’ve created a general statement, implying that any cup of tea would taste good after any long day.
Ref Grammarly
-
And one more little question. Is "count" a noun in this sentence? Commented Apr 10, 2021 at 10:07
-
1@JustOneMan Yes, count is a noun here. It must be a noun, because it has an article, and only nouns take articles.– stangdonCommented Apr 10, 2021 at 12:31
-
But there are some rare cases: "All the more", "the better", and that's why I doubt about article always only with nouns. Commented Apr 10, 2021 at 17:17
-
better is an adjective ; adverb or noun depending on its use dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/better?q=+better More is a determiner, pronoun, adverb– BradCommented Apr 13, 2021 at 3:23