Korean Job Discussion Forums

[xCustomx]

My co-teacher asked me what the difference is between 'on Earth' and 'the Earth.' Can anyone offer a simple answer? I can't find an easy way to explain it to her

[Whistleblower]

On Earth, there are many countries and one defies logic.

The Earth is populated by too many Koreans.

[xCustomx]

That still doesn't explain the difference in usage. I'm editing the final version of a school newspaper I've put together and she went through it to find mistakes.

"Global warming affects all the creatures which live on Earth."

"Global warming affects all the creatures which live on the Earth."

I told her that both are OK, but she wants to know why.

[globalgirlk]

The Earth-is specific, refering to the planet itself.
On Earth- could be suggesting location.
Ie: The Earth is a planet in the solar system
Where on Earth is Nagaland?

*Nagaland, I think, is loacted somewhere in India(ish?); of course I could be totally wrong on that.

[xCustomx]

Oh, and how can I convince her that we don't use the word "trashes" as a noun.

"We should reduce the amount of trashes." - I keep telling her that using 'trash' would be more appropriate

[Whistleblower]

Trash is uncountable and thus you can't add 'es' to the end. Simple.

[xCustomx]

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

sure shes not reading trashes as in destroys....? cos trash is uncountable.

[globalgirlk]

I think she has her nouns,adjectives, and her verbs mixed.

[maeil]

I've always wondered about "Earth" vs. "the Earth" myself... we don't say "the Saturn" or "the Venus." I searched through NASA's style guide ( http://history.nasa.gov/styleguide.html ) for any mention of this but found none... in fact in one sentence regarding to Astronomical Bodies, they refer to Earth without 'the' in one place and with 'the' just after!

I have a feeling that it just comes down to style. I think most people are more familiarized with hearing "the Earth."

Trying to google this comes up with a lot of interesting pages about fantasy worlds and such.

[yawarakaijin]

Perhaps it is the small difference in context?

The "planet" Earth vs Earth being used as the proper name for our planet?


1.)The planet earth revolves around that sun. The Earth revolves around the sun.

2.) Earth revolves around the sun.

Obviously we would say number 1.


1.) I live in China. I live on Earth

2.) I live on the Earth

Little bit more of a grey area but I would go with 1.

[talika]

[Privateer]

Both 'Earth' and 'the Earth' are acceptable. As a planet name, 'Earth' may be used without an article; but as part of a class of certain very familiar parts of the environment (e.g. 'the Sun', 'the sea', 'the sky', 'the mountains', 'the stars', 'the moon' etc) it is also commonly used with the definite article.

We also use the definite article with familiar parts of the domestic environment: 'the door', 'the phone', 'the TV', 'the bathroom', etc.