Timeline for using "the"+adj without a noun
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2, 2012 at 20:55 | vote | accept | Shivadas | ||
| Mar 2, 2012 at 15:06 | comment | added | Shivadas | So if we I understand correctly, when translating from Spanish "lo"+adj, describing a general group of things, the english construction "the"+adj is acceptable. Although some were reluctant with this usage. | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 4:50 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | @Shivadas Really? I never realized the three terms in the title mapped to discrete individuals; I always thought it was a more general thing. But your poster certainly makes it clear that each word applies to a particular guy. | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 2:17 | comment | added | Jim | @JohnLawler: My family is like a pork belly sandwich- My two great-aunts are the bread, and my great-uncle is the fat in the middle. :-) | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 2:06 | comment | added | Shivadas | "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is Lo Bueno, lo Malo y lo Feo": Actually in the case of the movie, it did refer to specific persons, which makes it "El Bueno, El Malo y El Feo". 1.bp.blogspot.com/_--5tv0rYkQg/SMfhro0NGVI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/… | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 1:45 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | Note that in Spanish the article used for these nominalized adjectives is a neuter one, which cannot be used with nouns. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is Lo Bueno, lo Malo y lo Feo. If you talked about el viejo, that would be the old one (masc) or the old man, and la vieja similarly the old one (fem) or the old woman. But the noun-adjective hybrids it becomes “the (adj) thing”, so lo viejo would be the old part, or the old bit, or oldness or some such. It doesn’t work this way in Portuguese or French, which both just use a masculine article to nominalize adjectives. | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 1:27 | comment | added | John Lawler | ... are always with us. | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 1:26 | comment | added | GEdgar | The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 1:04 | comment | added | Cerberus - Reinstate Monica | I'd go even farther and say that "the educated" etc. is plural unless a specific noun is left out (as in your "the red"); after all, it takes a plural verb: *the educated never says "don't" v. the educated never say "don't". | |
| Mar 2, 2012 at 0:55 | vote | accept | Shivadas | ||
| Mar 2, 2012 at 20:55 | |||||
| Mar 2, 2012 at 0:26 | history | answered | John Lawler | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
