[The] whale [the] elephant.

Question

[The] whale is bigger than [the] elephant.Is 'the' needed in this sentence?Thanks!

Bokeh · Accepted Answer

Yes it is. Also I would use "larger" not "bigger".

New2grammar · Answer

I saw this sentence in another thread: "Lime is sour than lemon"

What's the reason 'the' is not needed in this sentence as the construction is similar?

Bokeh · Answer

New2grammar"Lime is more sour than lemon"

What's the reason 'the' is not needed in this sentence as the construction is similar?

In your sentence, whale and elephant, are refering to a group as a whole. That is not the case with the lemon and lime sentence.

New2grammar · Answer

Thanks for pointing out the difference and also the silly mistake. There might not be an answer for the following question, but I'll try my luck anyway.

Why can't lemon be refered to as a group in the sentence? If the was used, how would you interpret the sentence?

Bokeh · Answer

New2grammarWhy can't lemon be refered to as a group in the sentence? If the was used, how would you interpret the sentence?

I didn't say the lemon sentence couldn't take "the", but that the elephant/whale sentence needs it. You could also say it like this "Whales are bigger than elephants.".The lemon sentence doesn't need "the" because lemon and lime are both uncountable nouns, but you could use it if you are refering to the species rather than the juice.

Goodman · Answer

New2grammar
Thanks for pointing out the difference and also the silly mistake. There might not be an answer for the following question, but I'll try my luck anyway.

Why can't lemon be refered to as a group in the sentence? If the was used, how would you interpret the sentence?

Hi New2grammar,

That was me who posted the sentence. It was a joking question about "more sour" or "sourer"....and Bokeh already fave you the answer.

In general, when we talk about something specific, we apply the article "the". If we just want to mention something in general, we can omit it. Exmaple: you are drinking a cup of tea. You said "the tea is bitter" which is correct because you are referring to the cup of tea you are drinking.

If someone said "tea has more antioxidant than coffee", he doesn't need to apply the article [the] because he is making a general statement.

Traffic is bad everywhere - general

The traffice was really bad coming to work- specific traffic (as you were driving to work).

Now, do you see the difference?

MrPedantic · Answer

I would look at it as follows:

1. The whale is bigger than the elephant.

2. The lemon is more sour than the lime.

3. Lemon is more sour than lime.

In #1, there are two possibilities. It could be an example of generic "the", where one individual represents all the individuals of that class (i.e. "all whales are bigger than all elephants"). Or it might refer to a particular whale and elephant (e.g. "this whale here is bigger than that elephant over there").

#2 is the same, except that "lemon" and "lime" refer to types of fruit, rather than types of mammal.

In #3, as has been said, "lemon" and "lime" are both uncountable: they refer to lemon and lime as substances (juice, probably), rather than lemons and limes as individual fruits or representatives of a class.

MrP

Khoff · Answer

So if you were talking about whale meat and elephant meat (uncountable nouns), you could use the pattern of (3) and say "Whale is tougher than elephant."  (I hope no one here is actually in a position to make a statement like that!)

New2grammar · Answer

Thanks everyone!!I didn't know lemon/lime by itself could mean juice and that's why I was confused when 'the' was dropped out from the sentence.

Now that the question is answered, I wonder why 'bigger' is not suitable for the sentence. Maybe I should start a new thread.

Khoff · Answer

"Bigger" is fine.  "Larger" is a bit more formal, "bigger" is more conversational.  In a scientific report "larger" would be better.

[The] whale [the] elephant.

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