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Palinkasocsi Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

definite article

Dear Friends,

Though my intuition says 'yes', I am not 100% sure if I must use the definite article in the following:

'X' expresses the? diametrically opposite of what we generally mean by 'Y'.

Thank you for your help.

Palinkasocsi
  

Top answer

Hi, it seems strange to me. The opposite would be a noun, and diametrically is an adverb, and they can go together. After looking up "diametrically" in my dictionary, I think you can only use that expression if you use "opposite" as an adjective.

— Kooyeen

  • Hi, it seems strange to me.
  • The opposite would be a noun, and diametrically is an adverb, and they can go together.
  • After looking up "diametrically" in my dictionary, I think you can only use that expression if you use "opposite" as an adjective.
  • What X expresses is diametrically opposite to what we generally mean by Y Otherwise, you'd have to say something like "X expresses the diametric opposite of what we generally mean by Y", using the adjective "diametric" instead of the adverb "diametrically", but in this case I am not sure "diametric opposite" is still idiomatic.
  • You might change it to "the exact opposite", also.
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2 Answers
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Hi,
it seems strange to me. The opposite would be a noun, and diametrically is an adverb, and they can go together. After looking up "diametrically" in my dictionary, I think you can only use that expression if you use "opposite" as an adjective.

What X expresses is diametrically opposite to what we generally mean by Y

Otherwise, you'd have to say someth
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Thanks for your suggestions, Kooyee. You seem to be as professional as a native.

P.
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