Why do we say "the Romans" as opposed to "Romans"?

[Lucia]

Test No. incompl/elem-8 "Articles", question 7

The interesting thing about ......... is all the roads that they built in Britain.

(a) Romans
(b) a Romans
(c) the Romans

Test No. incompl/elem-8 "Articles", answer 7

The interesting thing about the Romans is all the roads that they built in Britain.

Correct answer: (c) the Romans

Your answer was: incorrect
The interesting thing about Romans is all the roads that they built in Britain.
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Hallo, can you explain me the difference between Romans and the Romans in this sentence, please? Thank you
Lucia

[Torsten]

Well, if you say the Romans you refer to them as whole, the Romans means the entire Roman people.
Because we don't know who in particular built the roads in Britain we refer to them as the Romans. It's not important who exactly built the roads, what counts is the fact that we associate road building in Britain with the Romans. What springs to mind when you think about the French (the French Nation)?

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[Filcanlas]

thank you Torsten in differentiating the word 'the Romans' against the word 'Romans' you're really a big help for me!

[Ralf]

Maybe you get a better feel for it if you substitute the word 'Romans' by 'British' or any other nation that's still around ;)
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[Nataliru]

Dear all
Tnaks a lot, it is getting clearer for me now. But... Could you give an example, please, where the word 'Romans' (or British, or French, etc) is used as a sudject (or an object) with no article?

[Mister Micawber]

.
Romans like lasagna.
.
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[Alan]

Hi,

'British' 'French' 'Spanish' and others are essentially adjectives and can't really stand alone without the article and so we have to say: The French/British and so on because it's understood that we are talking about 'The French people' for example. Other words act as adjective and noun as for example 'Italian' 'Greek' 'American' 'African' 'Asian' - these words can be used without the article: Americans choose a new president every four years but The British change their leader every five years.

Back to your question about Romans, which is slightly different because 'Romans' describes the citizens of Rome when used without the article. When we say 'The Romans' we are usually referring to a period of time during the Roman Empire when they ruled a large proportion of the so-called civilized world.

Alan
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[Nataliru]

Dear Alan

Thanks a lot for such a detailed and clear explanation. I hope I start to understand it better now :)

Best regards
nanatiru

[Orchid1205]

Alan,

Why must the words as British, French be used with the article but the words as Italian, American, Asian can be used without the article? What are the difference between them?

To explain for me, please.

[Alan]

Hi,

Have a look at this - I answered with this reply on July 24th

[Joanabelyn]

[Alan]

Hi Joana,

Yes, you can if you want to stress the word 'Americans' in particular.

Alan
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[Joanabelyn]

hi,thanks for answering my question,but what do you mean by "to stress the word americans "

[Alan]

Hi,

'Stress' suggests that you emphasise the word 'Americans' in contrast to other nationalities.

Alan
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[Joanabelyn]

ah,thank you so much....