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Torsten
Learning Coach
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 #3 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:14 am Worst of all |
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| Torsten wrote: | | The expression worst of all comes with an article. |
with what article? |
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Lost_Soul
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| #4 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:37 am Worst of all |
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| lost_soul wrote: | | Torsten wrote: | | The expression worst of all comes with an article. |
with what article? |
'the', LS |
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 Pamela
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| #5 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:13 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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Hi, Pamela !
I asked because in the test there is no article before "worst". |
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Lost_Soul
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| #6 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:46 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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Hi LS
Sometimes superlatives are used without the definite article. Though I don't have any "official" references or research about this particular topic at hand, it seems to me that this most often happens with words such as most, best, least and worst.  But I'm sure it happens with other superlatives too.
I consider the use of 'the' in the test sentence to be optional.
Amy |
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Yankee
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| #7 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 13:35 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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| Yankee wrote: | | I consider the use of 'the' in the test sentence to be optional. |
It might be one of those regional differences again, but I don't think I've ever heard 'worst of all', as used in the test sentence, with an article. Or perhaps I should say that it wouldn't sound natural to my European ear. |
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Conchita
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| #8 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 13:55 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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Hi Conchita
I also much prefer the test sentence without 'the', but wouldn't complain if 'the' were there. |
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Yankee
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| #9 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:08 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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Hi Conchita
It's me again. Let me get your take on something else:
| Yankee wrote: | | ... this most often happens with words such as ... |
In the sentence above, I wouldn't dream of using 'the'. Never.
But what's your feeling about the use of 'the' if the word order is changed as follows:
| Quote: | | "... this happens (the) most often with words such as ..." |
For me, this is another situation in which I would not use the word 'the', but I also wouldn't consider using 'the' to be wrong -- just more unusual.
What about you? |
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Yankee
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| #10 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:22 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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| I agree with you, Amy, except for the second example: the use of 'the' here would definitely grate on my ears. |
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Conchita
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| #11 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:33 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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This 'grating phenomenon' could be explained by the fact that 'most' here means 'very' (as I see it). |
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Conchita
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Location: Madrid, Spain
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| #12 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:37 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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That is interesting. I really can't say that the second one grates on my ears at all.
What about this sentence:
Of the brands on the market, we use Brand X the most often. |
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Yankee
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| #13 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:42 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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| Conchita wrote: |
This 'grating phenomenon' could be explained by the fact that 'most' here means 'very' (as I see it). |
Ah ha! Maybe the difference here is that I'm interpreting it both ways.
However, in my previous sentence, if I change the word order, I'd definitely omit 'the':
Of all the brands on the market, we most often use Brand X. |
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Yankee
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| #14 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:45 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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| Yankee wrote: | That is interesting. I really can't say that the second one grates on my ears at all.
What about this sentence:
Of the brands on the market, we use Brand X the most often. |
Good example!
As the sentence stands, I don't think we should omit the article, since here 'the most often' means 'most of the time'. Saying 'we use Brand X most often' could also mean 'very often', but in this case we wouldn't say 'of all the brands...'. |
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Conchita
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Location: Madrid, Spain
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| #15 (permalink) Thu Apr 05, 2007 14:49 pm Expression "Worst of all" with article? |
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| Did you see my added comment in my last post, Conchita? (Sorry, I added the last part after I posted.) |
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Yankee
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| Anyhow vs. anyway | Is it an idiom: 'repeat business'? |
