Tell (the) good from (the) bad
Hi,
I was wondering if there is any difference between this two variations ( with and without the definite article)? The Google Books NGram viewer shows both variants are equally common...
Thank you for your help!
Top answer
There is some overlap of usage, but when referring to specific individual items one would tend to use the articles, while when referring to general qualities or principles one would tend to omit the articles. For example: I'm trying to sort these apples, but I can't tell the good (ones) from the bad (ones) An amoral person cannot tell good from bad.
- There is some overlap of usage, but when referring to specific individual items one would tend to use the articles, while when referring to general qualities or principles one would tend to omit the articles.
- For example: I'm trying to sort these apples, but I can't tell the good (ones) from the bad (ones) An amoral person cannot tell good from bad.
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There is some overlap of usage, but when referring to specific individual items one would tend to use the articles, while when referring to general qualities or principles one would tend to omit the articles. For example:
I'm trying to sort these apples, but I can't tell the good (ones) from the bad (ones)
An amoral person cannot tell good from bad.
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