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 Tue Jun 17, 2008 15:24 pm The use of 'The' |
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| BTW, is Mo Mowlam an Irish? I love Guinness! |
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Haihao
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| Tue Jun 17, 2008 19:40 pm The use of 'The' |
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It's really common to use "the" before a person when you include a description.
The examples give above (the young Mr Cardinal, the unfortunate Mr Habibullah, the affable Mr Gorbachev, the astute Mr Quiles) read quite naturally to me. It's a very different usage from "The Mr. Gobachev that ran a country, that's the Mr. Gorbachev that I mean."
It would not work at all without the description. |
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Barb_D
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:19 pm The use of 'The' |
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| Barb_D wrote: | It's really common to use "the" before a person when you include a description.
The examples give above (the young Mr Cardinal, the unfortunate Mr Habibullah, the affable Mr Gorbachev, the astute Mr Quiles) read quite naturally to me. It's a very different usage from "The Mr. Gobachev that ran a country, that's the Mr. Gorbachev that I mean."
It would not work at all without the description. |
Exactly. BTW, how about 'a': a young Mr Cardinal, an unfortunate Mr Habibullah, an affable Mr Gorbachev, an astute Mr Quiles. |
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Haihao
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:20 pm The use of 'The' |
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| Haihao wrote: | | Exactly. BTW, how about 'a': a young Mr Cardinal, an unfortunate Mr Habibullah, an affable Mr Gorbachev, an astute Mr Quiles. |
Heard and seen those too.
BNC says...
| Quote: | | But his assertion that a Scottish parliament should have some say over the siting on Trident nuclear missiles in Scotland brought an angry Mr Hughes to the rostrum: |
| Quote: | | An unrepentant Mr Parkes said: "It's all over now." |
| Quote: | | The two favourites are Mr Arkady Volsky, once touted as a potential Prime Minister under Mikhail Gorbachev, and Mr Vladimir Shumeiko, deputy Speaker of Parliament and an interventionist Mr Gaidar has indicated he would tolerate. |
All we need now is the natives to tell us what to use and in which circumstances. There seems to be an absence of them (natives) on this one. |
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Molly
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:23 pm The use of 'The' |
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So, I found 'good day' isn't almighty but 'the' and 'a' are.  |
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Haihao
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 17:13 pm The use of 'The' |
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I am a native speaker.
Use "the" when you simply want to refer to the person and provide some desiprtion that remains universally true about that person (at least, for the time being). The 30-year-old Dr. Smith, the beautiful Mrs. Kent.
I would use "a" far less frequently, I believe, to describe the current, temporary nature of the person. Mr. Hughes is not always angry, but he is now. Mr. Parks might sometimes be repentant, but he is not now, in this case. |
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Barb_D
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 18:20 pm The use of 'The' |
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| Quote: | | Use "the" when you simply want to refer to the person and provide some desiprtion that remains universally true about that person (at least, for the time being). The 30-year-old Dr. Smith, the beautiful Mrs. Kent. |
What do you mean by universally true, in this context? How is being 30 yrs old, a universally true statement? |
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Molly
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 18:45 pm The use of 'The' |
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| It's true for the time being, as I said. It's not a transient characteristic, like being angry or unrepentent are in the other examples. She will be 30 for quite a while; she will be lovely (we hope) for even longer. |
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Barb_D
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 19:11 pm The use of 'The' |
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| Barb_D wrote: | | It's true for the time being, as I said. It's not a transient characteristic, like being angry or unrepentent are in the other examples. She will be 30 for quite a while; she will be lovely (we hope) for even longer. |
But I don't see what the article has to do with it. These express the same thing:
Local news.
And finally, 30-year-old Dr. Smith is to marry.
Our beautiful Mrs. Kent is coming to dinner tomorrow. |
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Molly
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 19:26 pm The use of 'The' |
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In the first, the article is missing. That example (which should not have a comma after "Smith," by the way) doesn't read naturally to me at all.
In the second, you have "Our" which replaces the article. |
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Barb_D
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 19:27 pm The use of 'The' |
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Molly, take out the second comma por favor: without "And finally" your sentence would be, "...Dr. Smith is to marry."
30-year-old Dr. Smith is to marry.
vs.
30-year-old Dr. Smith, is to marry.
(that's what I'm talking about)
OR it might have just been a typo. hehe |
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prezbucky
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 20:58 pm The use of 'The' |
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| Quote: | | OR it might have just been a typo. hehe |
It was. Thanks for spotting it. |
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Molly
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 21:00 pm The use of 'The' |
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| Quote: | | In the first, the article is missing. That example (which should not have a comma after "Smith," by the way) doesn't read naturally to me at all. |
Comma edited. Thanks. Why doesn't it read naturally? Which part?
| Quote: | | In the second, you have "Our" which replaces the article. |
Of course it does, but does it have the same function as "the"? If so, how? |
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Molly
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| Wed Jun 18, 2008 21:06 pm The use of 'The' |
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| cool beans, Molly |
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prezbucky
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| Rewrite sentence: The tables and the chairs have to be moved from his room. | 'day by day' vs 'everyday' |
