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river1974
Joined: 20 May 2003
Posts: 525
Location: Taiwan
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 Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 9:09 pm Post subject: superlative |
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Dear teachers:
Friction is *greatest* when a body at rest begins to move, thereby making it difficult for a force to displace the body, owing to its inertia being influenced by friction.
In the above, the word "greatest" is the superlative, so "the" should be placed before "greatest" but it is omitted. Under what circumstances could we omit "the" when referring to the superlative?
Thanks. |
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Bob S.
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 1767
Location: So. Cal
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| Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:32 pm Post subject: Re: superlative |
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| river1974 wrote: |
Friction is *greatest* when a body at rest begins to move, thereby making it difficult for a force to displace the body, owing to its inertia being influenced by friction.
In the above, the word "greatest" is the superlative, so "the" should be placed before "greatest" but it is omitted. Under what circumstances could we omit "the" when referring to the superlative? |
In this case, "greatest" is used as a predicate adjective to modify "Friction". When the superlative is an adjective modifying the original subject rather than another noun, the article "the" can generally be omitted.
Example:
Q: Who is the tallest boy in the class?
A1: Billy is the tallest boy. ("tallest" modifies "boy")
A2: Billy is the tallest. ("boy" is understood as being modified by "tallest")
A3: Billy is tallest. ("tallest" modifies "Billy") |
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toe
Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 120
Location: michigan, usa
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| Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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i personally thank you, bob s., because i didn't know the technical
reason why, i could only write examples. so i was waiting for the
answer as well! 
fantastic question, river1974!
toe |
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river1974
Joined: 20 May 2003
Posts: 525
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Bob. You've made a very clear explanation! And toe, nice to meet you on this forum. I guess you are young  . |
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Bob S.
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 1767
Location: So. Cal
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:21 am Post subject: |
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| and thanks to my high school English teacher who drilled this grammar and sentence diagramming stuff into us so strong, I'd remember it lo these many eons later. |
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toe
Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 120
Location: michigan, usa
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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that is Most Excellent of your teacher, Bob! (didja catch the superlative?) 
and river1974~ i'm new here, for sure! english is definitely my first language (but i am keen on learning cantonese). i'm not as young as most of you here--i'm 34, ancient to some of the students! nice to meet you!
toe |
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river1974
Joined: 20 May 2003
Posts: 525
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Toe, you are learning Cantonese? That is surprising! I know a number of foreigners come to Taiwan or mainland China to learn Chinese, but few for Cantonese learning. I think Hong Kong would be a good place to learn Cantonese. |
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toe
Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 120
Location: michigan, usa
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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ugh, yes, i am teaching myself from a book 
it is a very slow process, so i have great admiration for
all of the students here who are so dedicated to learning
english! it's not easy.
i agree with you--it's best to learn in hong kong! if i had
the money, i'd be there! (plus, i would get to see all the
great hong kong movies at the theater! )
^^
toe |
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