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Mr. Tom Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

"Outside" vs "the outside"

Hi

Could you please tell me why the speaker used "the" before "outside"? Would it be OK to drop the the in this sentence?

Cab diver to the passenger.

Lower the window and open the door from the outside.

Why not: from outside?

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

Because 'the outside' in this context is a noun ('a nominal phrase' to be precise). Compare: It is dark outside ('outside' is an adverb) Lower the window and open the door from the outside ('the outside' functions as a noun)

— MichalS

  • Because 'the outside' in this context is a noun ('a nominal phrase' to be precise).
  • Compare: It is dark outside ('outside' is an adverb) Lower the window and open the door from the outside ('the outside' functions as a noun)
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5 Answers
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Because 'the outside' in this context is a noun ('a nominal phrase' to be precise).

Compare:

It is dark outside ('outside' is an adverb)
Lower the window and open the door from the outside ('the outside' functions as a noun)
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Thanks, MichalS.

So am I to understand that we cannot drop the the in this sentence?

How does the sentence without "the" sound to your native ears?

Thanks,

Tom
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Mine are not native ears but I can tell you that this sentence should have 'the'.

If there were not a full stop after 'outside', omitting 'the' would be possible, like in:

Open the door from outside (of) the house.

Here 'outside the house' is an adverbial phrase, since 'outside' is an adverb in this context.

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Hi Tom

This is the way I would interpret things:

"Open the door from outside (the car)" --> This suggests to me that the person will not be inside the car when he/she opens the door. So, the word "outside" seems to refer to the person's location. This doesn't work well in your scenario because the person will be inside the car when he/she opens the door.
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Mr. TomLower the window and open the door from the outside.

Why not: from outside?
I agree with Yankee completely. You can't use from outside because that means you are not in the car.

CJ
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