In or ON

Question

Which to say please?- I didn't like your tone in/on the voice message.How do you say this properly?- The  more the time passes the more I'm in love with you.Can you say "the more the time passes"?Thank you

Avangi · Accepted Answer

"In the message" would refer to the words and their meaning.
"On the message" would more likely refer to the sound, or the inflection of your voice.

Can you say "the more the time passes"? Yes. But I think "the more time passes" is more natural.

I take "more" in your sentence to modify "passes," not "[the] time."

We sometimes distinguish between "the time" (countable) and "time" (uncountable), but I'd say that in this case both forms are uncountable.

Edit. That's probably not right. "A time" would be countable.

"The time" usually means "the time of day," or "Do you have [the] time [necessary] to correct my paper right now?"

But "the time" in your sentence is like "the sky," or "the sun." There's only one.

Alc24 · Answer

Hello Avangi,

I had a quick question please?
How would you say this one?

THE optional? Would you put it, would you use "As time passes" or "the more time passes"

How would an english speaking person say this naturally please?

The more (the) time passes,/As time passes the stronger he gets.

Thank you so much

Avangi · Answer

Hi,

In music we speak of antecedent and consequent phrases. I don't know if that applies to language.

This particular structure or idiom or whatever it is requires two matching "the" 's in the two matching phrases.

There are two "matching" comparatives:

The more the merrier.
The bigger the better.

But the "the" in the middle phrase/clause is optional, depending on the particular noun involved:

The more [the] snow continued to fall the more treacherous [the] driving became.
The more [the] time passes the stronger he gets.

~~As time passes the stronger he gets.~~ As [the / more] time passes he gets stronger.
(There's only one comparative here. "More" here would be used in a different sense.)

- A.

Alc24 · Answer

Aren't there 2 comparatives here,

The more time passes, the stronger he gets.

Thank you

Avangi · Answer

Yes, but each qualifies a different thing.

Alc24 · Answer

Can you say this

"the more time passes the strong her gets"

THank you

Avangi · Answer

No, it needs to be ". . . . the stronger she gets."

Alc24 · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Could you please help me with this sentence?

1 As the years go by I cry more and more./The more the years go by, the more I cry.

Are the both correct and natural?

I also had a thread that deals with AS vs MORE like in the above sentence. If you have a chance could you please help me understand them better?

Thank you Avangi for everything.

Alc24 · Answer

Avangi I had one last question if you will.

Is it ON or IN

I got the exam on/in my first try. (I'd say ON)

I was able to in/on one try. (I'd say IN)

How come?

or am I mistaken?

Thank you

Avangi · Answer

alc24I got the exam on/in my first try. (I'd say ON)

I was able to in/on one try. (I'd say IN)

Putting aside the unrelated flaws in your sentences, I agree with you.

They answer different questions:
When did you pass the exam? (On Tuesday!)

How many tries did it take you to pass the exam? (I did it in three tries.)

I crossed the desert in three days.
I got my bachelor's degree in three years.

I suppose to do something in X days/tries/years is an idiom. I'm not sure.

I'm afraid I don't have a really good answer.

In or ON

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