Can anyone explain to me why it is: " the best restaurant in town "
BUT .. " the best restaurant in THE city "
Is there a rule to explain the difference, to explain why we don't use an article in sentence no.1 .. in town .. but we do use it in sentence no.2 .. in THE city..
Thank you ... I looked it up in my grammar books and on the internet, but I can not find the explanation for this...
Erwin 64
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nothing to do with grammar. 'best restaurant in town' is just a cliche.
"...ever wonder why they kill the weak ones, baby?"
Which we also use for 'the best restaurant in the city.'
We use the definite article with 'the city' because we are speaking about a specific, city. The one we have been speaking of.
oh sorry yeah, i misred the o.p. and am retarded.
(remind me not to get involved with the grown-ups' grammar debates)
"...ever wonder why they kill the weak ones, baby?"
But we could equally have been talking about a specific town. We'd still be unlikely to say, "the best in the town" (though it's possible). I think "in town" is just a set phrase which is taken to mean "in this town"; "I'm in town for a few days", "I'm going shopping in town" etc.Originally Posted by Jellybean
Which we also use for 'the best restaurant in the city.'
We use the definite article with 'the city' because we are speaking about a specific, city. The one we have been speaking of.
Asking "why" we have a particular idiom is the road to madness.
Distrust all in whom the urge to punish is strong.
See you at church, then we'll go to the park.
What church? What park? It's the church on the corner of Tenth and Elm. It's the park in the middle of town.
THE seems to be used when we don't know which one. But then it isn't. I think this is what erwin wants to know.
Home remedies:
1. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.
2. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.
Yeah jonny danger....
that's exactly what I want to know ....
And thanks very much for all your posts .... but to be honest I still don't know..
TO Isanity : ...asking why is the road to madness ...
mmm, look, I know WHEN to use an article or not... It's like I can feel or hear whether an article is needed or not. But last week, while teaching one of my Thai students .... he asked me this question. His feeling for the language is not that develloped, so he's asking for rules, trying to understand ....
I think I can hardly tell him that he is mad .... because he wants to understand.
So ... although I think that the answer is somewhere close to the explanations of
Isanity and jonny danger, but I am still not sure what to answer him tomorrow .....
Erwin 64
ps Isanity ... Das ist wirklich ein wunderschoner Satz
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A specific city. About 25 years ago the San Francisco Warriors basketball team inscribed their away jerseys with THE CITY, which is SF's nickname, the other team went nuts, and they had to change.
You can very easily say the best restaurant in THE town.
Too long in Exile, too long not singing my song.
Too long like a rolling stone, Too long in exile
Too long in Exile, baby you just arent my friend.
Too long in Exile my friend, Baby you can never go home again.
The best restaurant in town is ........ - grammatically correct in response to "Which is the best restaurant in Widnes?" The reply can be either "The best restaurant in town is The China Garden" or "The best restaurant in Widnes is The China Garden" The second reply, although correct, is rarely used in everyday speech by native speakers because we do not feel the need to repeat the town's name so we just say 'town'. By putting the indefinite article in, it renders the phrase meaningless - "The best restaurant in a town is The China Garden' I would tend to use 'in the town' to add slight emphasis.
I know a lot of you will disagree with my next statement - "The best restaurant in city is..........." does not sound right. 'The city' seems to imply the city centre and not the suburbs.
In reply to a previous posting "See you at church, then we'll go to the park. " would suggest to me that it is a response to a question or used in familial surroundings. Mum to Hippo "Time to go to church" No need to name the church same one we went to for years and no need for any article.
pffffffffffff .... I do appreciate al the explanations .... it is all very interesting and informative ....but ..eh ... it doesn't seem to answer the question.
I understand: "Time to go to church (we know wich church)
Best place in town ( we know wich town)
So again ... why not Best place in City (by now I do know wich city :smile: )
Actually, my question stayes the same .. WHEN we have to use THE .. + noun
When we do not have to use this (or any other) article before a noun ???
At least I am glad I am not the only one who doesn't seem to know .... I thought I was just being stupid again ...
Erwin64
Added after 2 minutes:
ehhh that should be wHich .... it's getting late ...
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Articles can have various functions:
a definite article (the) indicates that the noun refers to a specific thing that the speaker has in mind (The chair was broken)
an indefinite article (a, an) indicates that the noun refers to something of the kind, but the particular instance is not important (A chair was broken).
a zero article is implied as the definite article but is not pronounced.
'Do you want steak or chicken?' 'The' has been replaced by nothing! 'Do you want the steak or the chicken?' Please answer the following question:
What is your favourite meat?
a) the steak
b) a steak
c) steak
Going back to your town/city argument. Some dialects in English shorten 'the' to t' or th' and is either attached to the noun or the preceding word as in 'There's trouble inth' mill'. "In the town" can be elided in spoken English as "inth' town" and you don't hear the th' so it comes out as "in town" and is now accepted as common English usage. The speaker may be saying "inth' city" but your ear perceives the inth' as "in the" whereas "in the town" you do not hear it "inth' town" only "in town"
Sometimes we cannot give hard and fast rules as to "Why?"
Well Hippo, thank you very much.
Your explanation is very clear and made me understand the reason why ...
Once more the Ajarn forum and his members solved the problem. :chug:
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What about when the Lakers called the Kings a cow town team? Ass' were kicked!
Home remedies:
1. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.
2. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.
Go Kings. (But I never liked the Lakers.)
By putting the indefinite article in, it renders the phrase meaningless - "
In your quote the word it is as superfluous as, my brother he wants to marry Margaret. Consider reconstructing the sentence to: Use of the indefinite article renders the phrase meaningless. Or, The phrase becomes (is rendered) meaningless when the indefinite article is used.
THE is in reference to that of which we speak. This can be useful, hippo, it depends on other factors, such as if the listener needs to be reminded.
Added after 2 minutes:
Y?
Go Kings. (But I never liked the Lakers.)
Home remedies:
1. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.
2. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.
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