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MUSCOVITE Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
in cold VS in the cold
Hi,
I wonder if the definite article is mandatory in the following example sentence:
My friends in Siberia say they are not afraid of (the) cold.
If both versions (with and without the ‘the’) are OK, which one is more common in AmEng?
Can we parallel this usage to the pair “in the summer”/ “in summer”? According to my English textbook,
(1) My boss never lets me go on holiday in summer (mainly, BrEng)
(2) My boss never lets me go on vacation in the summer (mainly, AmEng)
Thank you so much!
mus-te
I wonder if the definite article is mandatory in the following example sentence:
My friends in Siberia say they are not afraid of (the) cold.
If both versions (with and without the ‘the’) are OK, which one is more common in AmEng?
Can we parallel this usage to the pair “in the summer”/ “in summer”? According to my English textbook,
(1) My boss never lets me go on holiday in summer (mainly, BrEng)
(2) My boss never lets me go on vacation in the summer (mainly, AmEng)
Thank you so much!
mus-te
Top answer
' I don't think it matches the idiomaticity of 'in (the) summer/winter/fall/spring' any more than 'in the morning/afternoon/evening' does.
- ' I don't think it matches the idiomaticity of 'in (the) summer/winter/fall/spring' any more than 'in the morning/afternoon/evening' does.
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2 Answers
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Without 'the' does not sound right to me without further modification: 'Not afraid of a little cold.' I don't think it matches the idiomaticity of 'in (the) summer/winter/fall/spring' any more than 'in the morning/afternoon/evening' does.
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