And with the

Question

When articles are used with "and", there are problems for me.

1. The chauffeur and dog handler is/are my uncle(s). (this refers to one or two person?)

2. The chauffeur and the dog handler is/are my uncle(s). (this refers to one or two person?)

There is a 'the' in the first sentence, whereas there is 2 'the' in the second sentence.

Please teach me how to differentiate between them. Thank you.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

1. The chauffeur and dog handler is/are my uncle(s).

2. The chauffeur and the dog handler is/are my uncle(s).

The only clue you have is the repeated "the." (2 the's = 2 people)

The first one is one person - is my uncle.

The second one refers to two people - are my uncles.

This seems more like a game than a class exercise.

Kl004535 · Answer

The sentence below is a bit bewildering to me. It/This/That is because there is a "that-clause" after the 2 subjects.

The plump boy and his grubby dog that trespassed on the prohibited premises have been arrested.

Actually the "that-clause" is meant to refer to both the boy and his dog, but I do not know whether or not its position above is correct. And I don't want to repeat it twice.

Avangi · Answer

kl004535The plump boy and his grubby dog that trespassed on the prohibited premises have been arrested.

There's nothing wrong with the sentence, except that probably no one would say it impromptu.
It's no more unnatural than "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."
(Well, maybe a little.)

Kl004535 · Answer

AvangiIt's no more unnatural than "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

It's no more unnatural than .... (it means more natural or not more natural ?? I am always confused about it. But it won't happen in mother tongue because I can think faster in my first language )

Avangi · Answer

“The plump boy and his grubby dog that trespassed on the prohibited premises have been arrested.”

Sorry about that, kl.

The brown fox sentence is unnatural. How unnatural is it??

About the same as yours, no more, no less. Well - maybe a little less.

Yours is more unnatural. Yours is not more natural. In fact, it's less natural.

I expect this sounds crazy in a new language.

If A is not more than B, and not less than B, then they're both the same.

Thanks for hangin' in.

- A.

Kl004535 · Answer

let me see if I am correctly understand.

no more unnatural than = no less unnatural than = the same as unnatural

Therefore, I can also say "it is no less unnatural than .....", right?

Thank you.

Avangi · Answer

Perhaps we could drop the negatives to consider the rest of it: These all describe the same identical situation.

Mine is more natural than yours.

Yours is less natural than mine.

**Mine is no less natural than yours. ( = Mine is not less natural than yours.)
(But it may be more natural than yours.)

**Yours is no more natural than mine. ( = Yours is not more natural than mine.)
(But it may be less natural than mine.)

Yours is more unnatural than mine.

Mine is less unnatural than yours.

**Yours is no less unnatural than mine. ( = Yours is not less unnatural than mine.)
(But it may be more unnatural than mine.)

**Mine is no more unnatural than yours. ( = Mine is not more unnatural than yours.)
(But it may be less unnatural than yours.)

** These would also be true if yours and mine were equally natural/unnatural.

This will definitely drive you crazy if you think about.

Anonymous · Answer

wow, it really drives me crazy. pls let me take some time to think about.

Thanks no end.

And with the

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions