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Listenever Posted 10 years ago
In the video, Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) says:
If we can't accept limitations, we're no better than (the) bad guys.
I don't quite hear "the". But then "than" is not clearly pronounced either.
That said, I'd like to know if the "the" has to be there to make it sound natural, grammatical, etc, or not.
Grammar
(the) bad guys
In the video, Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) says:
If we can't accept limitations, we're no better than (the) bad guys.
I don't quite hear "the". But then "than" is not clearly pronounced either.
That said, I'd like to know if the "the" has to be there to make it sound natural, grammatical, etc, or not.
Top answer
Yes, he says "no better than the bad guys", but the words "than the" are very rapid. "the" is expected. It is grammatical without "the", but not such a likely thing to say.
- Yes, he says "no better than the bad guys", but the words "than the" are very rapid.
- "the" is expected.
- It is grammatical without "the", but not such a likely thing to say.
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3 Answers
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Yes, he says "no better than the bad guys", but the words "than the" are very rapid.
"the" is expected. It is grammatical without "the", but not such a likely thing to say.
"the" is expected. It is grammatical without "the", but not such a likely thing to say.
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Thanks. So I guess there is a reason for expecting the "the" there.
What do you think the reason is?
As far as I can tell, Tony Stark was not really referring to a specific group of bad guys, but rather bad guys in general. If that's the case, why is it that leaving out the "the" is unlikely?
What do you think the reason is?
As far as I can tell, Tony Stark was not really referring to a specific group of bad guys, but rather bad guys in general. If that's the case, why is it that leaving out the "the" is unlikely?
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listeneverWhat do you think the reason is?Hmm. The only thing I can think of to suggest is that the idea of "the good guys" and "the bad guys" as groups is established in the idiom. Even when no specific group of guys has been mentioned, we recognise the pre-defined idea of such groupings.
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