On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:42:05 -0700 bof <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Robert Black Eagle wrote: > > >Now you want confusion, try to explain how and where to use "the" in > >English. If you say you live int THE Paris, you mean you live in > >Paris, France and not, let us say, Paris, Texas. However, how would > >you make that reference to The Hague (where "The" is part of the name)? > > And there are other confusing uses for "the", some of which are > >dialect variations. > > > > As my wife, who is not a native English-speaker says, "English is sure a > f**ked up language. You say you are "going to the store," but you are > also "going to church." You go shopping, but you don't go eating. Etc.,
As to going to church, there are two ways to say it: If you are just going to the church building and not a service, you would be 'going to the church' (a place). When you are 'going to church' you are going to an event. But I do agree about the oddities. My daughter is bi-lingual (English/ Swedish) and, when reading English books, is always asking about what I had thought to be obvious things. To be fair, I did the same when learning Swedish (not that I am so great at it...) -- +============================+===============================+ | Roger Oberholtzer | E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | OPQ Systems AB | WWW: http://www.opq.se/ | | Erik Dahlbergsgatan 41-43 | Phone: Int + 46 8 314223 | | 115 32 Stockholm | Mobile: Int + 46 733 621657 | | Sweden | Fax: Int + 46 8 302602 | +============================+===============================+ _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe/Suspend/Etc -> http://www.linux-sxs.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-users
