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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Sea
Hi,
Let's say I am doing FaceTime with a friend, who is traveling. I don't know where he is. I see what looks like a sea behind him. I say:
"What's this behind you?"
He says:
"It's a sea."
But if I say,
"Where are you?"
"I am by the sea."
Did I get the articles right? Also, would it be correct to say,
"I am by a sea"? There are many seas in the world and I don't know where he is. Or only "I am by the sea"?
Let's say I am doing FaceTime with a friend, who is traveling. I don't know where he is. I see what looks like a sea behind him. I say:
"What's this behind you?"
He says:
"It's a sea."
But if I say,
"Where are you?"
"I am by the sea."
Did I get the articles right? Also, would it be correct to say,
"I am by a sea"? There are many seas in the world and I don't know where he is. Or only "I am by the sea"?
Top answer
" No. ' Anonymous Did I get the articles right? Not the best choice.
- " No.
- ' Anonymous Did I get the articles right?
- Not the best choice.
- 'The' in both cases is more likely.
- Anonymous Also, would it be correct to say,"I am by a sea"?
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10 Answers
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Anonymous I say:"What's this behind you?"No. 'What's that behind you?'
AnonymousDid I get the articles right?Not the best choice. 'The' in both cases is more likely.
Anonymous Also, would it be correct to say,"I am by a sea"?We cannot argue 'correctness'; we can only argue 'lik
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Mister MicawberWe cannot argue 'correctness'; we can only argue 'likelihood'.Thank you. Interesting that you say that, although I am not sure why.
Is this also applicable to "ocean" or it is just like that with "sea"?
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Mister MicawberNot really; and it is highly unlikely that you have no idea which sea he might be near, since he is your friend and you have been using FaceTime with him.Also, Mister Micawber, but there really are many seas in the world (Mediterranean, Caribbean), no?
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Anonymous but there really are many seas in the world (Mediterranean, Caribbean), no?No. You have named only two. I doubt you could name (without research) more than half a dozen more.
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AnonymousIs this also applicable to "ocean" or it is just like that with "sea"?There are obviously even fewer oceans.
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While I wouldn't want to argue with Mister Micawber, in certain situations, it seems perfectly acceptable to me to use the indefinite article with "sea" if you want to distinguish it from all the other seas.
"Is that a lake I see behind you?"
"No, it's a sea."
"What is the North Sea?"
"Well, it's a sea. What else can it be?"
That said, "the" is more likely in your exa
"Is that a lake I see behind you?"
"No, it's a sea."
"What is the North Sea?"
"Well, it's a sea. What else can it be?"
That said, "the" is more likely in your exa
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Xerxes in certain situations, it seems perfectly acceptable to me to use the indefinite articleHence, as I said, we can only argue 'likelihood'.
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Mister MicawberHence, as I said, we can only argue 'likelihood'.Absolutely. But I just want to make sure that the OP understands that this is a bit "loose" and is often at the speaker's discretion.
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Anonymousthere really are many seas in the worldOff-topic and Irrelevant Factoid. On a day when I was very bored a hundred years ago, I took out a world map and counted the number of seas. I came up with 63.
CJ
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