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Park sang joon Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Then, too, there is [the] problem (of) how quickly the jungle grows.

Then, too, there is the problem of how quickly the jungle grows. Workers on the project would spend a day clearing a space for planting, only to return a day or two and find it partially overgrown. The jungle is simply too powerful for human's puny efforts to make any lasting imprint.
[Source: Reading for Results Ninth Edition by Laraine Flemming]
I'd like to know if I can use a definite article for the subject of the structure "there is(are)~" and I can omit "of" before "how" clause.
Thank you in advance for your help.
  

Top answer

park sang joon I'd like to know if I can use a definite article for the subject of the structure "there is(are)~" It's possible, though rare. The idea in these cases is often (as here) to hold something up for consideration rather than to indicate its location, so the meaning is, more or less, Then, too, we must consider the problem of how quickly the jungle grows. park sang joon omit "of" before "how" No.

— CalifJim

  • park sang joon I'd like to know if I can use a definite article for the subject of the structure "there is(are)~" It's possible, though rare.
  • The idea in these cases is often (as here) to hold something up for consideration rather than to indicate its location, so the meaning is, more or less, Then, too, we must consider the problem of how quickly the jungle grows.
  • park sang joon omit "of" before "how" No.
  • The "of" is needed.
  • CJ
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3 Answers
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park sang joonI'd like to know if I can use a definite article for the subject of the structure "there is(are)~"
It's possible, though rare. The idea in these cases is often (as here) to hold something up for consideration rather than to indicate its location, so the meaning is, more or less, Then, too, we must considerthe problem of how quickly the
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Thank you, Mr. Jim, for your very helpful answer.

No. The "of" is needed.
Then, How about in spoken English?
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park sang joonHow about in spoken English?
Same answer. "the problem how ..." isn't possible.

CJ
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