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Sisse Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Expression

0Hi, 02br
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00My students and I disagree on a sentence - should it be: "He denied having seen me before, the idiot!" or "He denied having seen me before, that Idiot!" or can you say both?02br
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00Hope somebody can help me0-
  

Top answer

0 Based on the tone and context, "that" sounds better to my ears and looks better to my eyes. 02br 02br 00John only drinks coffee from the pot other made. 0-

— Goodman

  • 0 Based on the tone and context, "that" sounds better to my ears and looks better to my eyes.
  • 02br 02br 00John only drinks coffee from the pot other made.
  • 0-
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6 Answers
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0 Based on the tone and context, "that" sounds better to my ears and looks better to my eyes. 02br
02br
00John only drinks coffee from the pot other made. I never see him make a fresh pot, 01sup00that 02sup00jerk!0-
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0Damnit! my students will gloat! But thank you for answering. Best wishes, Sisse0-
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0Hi,02br
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00To me, the version with 'the' sounds much, much more idiomatic.05002br
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00(One possible reason might be that it's much easier and quicker to say 'the idiot' than 'that idiot'.) 02br
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00Best wishes, Clive010id1
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0I'd say that both are possible. I think I hear 01i01b00the02b00 idiot02i00 in that context more often, but I could be wrong.02br
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00CJ 0-
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0 Both seem OK to me0-
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0When spoken, "the idiot" goes smoothly, but when reading it from the page, I stumble over the meaning; while "that idiot" is immediately clear. - A.0-
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