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Lizmea Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
The [people] and the [people] vs. the [people] and [people]??
Hi all!!
I have got a question about articles.
When we say "the Spanish", it clearly means "the Spanish people in general" right?
But if I write "Spanish" without the article, I would be talking about the Spanish language.
And I have learned that, in English, it is not good to repeat the same word over and over again in a piece of writing.
If so, when I want to write "the Spanish, the English, the Chinese and the Korean",
then what should I do?
My guesses are:
a. the Spanish, the English, the Chinese and the Korean -- is less correct (repeating articles) although it is clearer that this phrase is talking about "people"
b. the Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean -- is better (without repeating articles) and native speakers of english will understand that this phrase is talking about "people" not "language"
Thanks in advance,
Lizmea
I have got a question about articles.
When we say "the Spanish", it clearly means "the Spanish people in general" right?
But if I write "Spanish" without the article, I would be talking about the Spanish language.
And I have learned that, in English, it is not good to repeat the same word over and over again in a piece of writing.
If so, when I want to write "the Spanish, the English, the Chinese and the Korean",
then what should I do?
My guesses are:
a. the Spanish, the English, the Chinese and the Korean -- is less correct (repeating articles) although it is clearer that this phrase is talking about "people"
b. the Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean -- is better (without repeating articles) and native speakers of english will understand that this phrase is talking about "people" not "language"
Thanks in advance,
Lizmea
Top answer
, if you want to avoid repeating 'the'.
- , if you want to avoid repeating 'the'.
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4 Answers
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I would suggest: The Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean people..., if you want to avoid repeating 'the'.
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.
Hi, Lizmea,
You are right in the first part, but only some nationality words work that way. It would be better to have a complete sentence to work with, so:
The Spanish, English, Chinese and Koreans are all lovely people.
Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean are easy languages to learn.
.
Hi, Lizmea,
You are right in the first part, but only some nationality words work that way. It would be better to have a complete sentence to work with, so:
The Spanish, English, Chinese and Koreans are all lovely people.
Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean are easy languages to learn.
.
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Hi Yoong Liat, that exactly was my solution to this problem too. But, I still wanted to know what would be more natural in English.^_^
Thank you for advice though!
Thank you for advice though!
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Mister Micawber.
Hi, Lizmea,
You are right in the first part, but only some nationality words work that way. It would be better to have a complete sentence to work with, so:
The Spanish, English, Chinese and Koreans are all lovely people.
Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean are easy languages to learn.
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