In Nouns^x, Expressions^x, Definite articles^x

Yes, you need the definite article before a superlative, whether the noun it modifies is singular or plural. the most beautiful girl/girls Top gun; top dog are fixed expressions when used without an article. Ultimate climber/climbers may be a fixed expression, but I haven't heard it....

Except for most of beauty/courage, all your expressions are grammatically correct. However, as Nona the Brit said, you may have a hard time trying to find a situation in which to use some of them. Most cases of most of + a noun without an article are wrong. Normally, you cannot say most of gold,...

I'm not sure that "the" does anything! That is, it is simply a requirement in that expression. You are right that the indicates definiteness. Here it makes city definite; as a proper noun Toronto has no need to be made definite because it already is definite. The fact that "city" is a concrete...

*You have to use indefinite article after "half" when that word precedes a countable noum. Richard ate half a watermelon. My old home is about half a mile from here. Half a dozen eggs and half a pound of butter, please. Cecily drank half a bottle of Scotch last night. *Before...

You are right, Paco. The word 'problem' is definitely a countable noun. That's why when I first encountered the expression 'have x problem -ing,' perhaps decades ago, I thought it's a rather unusual construction. This peculiarity compelled me to memorize the expression by rote then. Along the...

"a" or "an" (i.e., the indefinite article) can serve as the article for more than one noun without any problem. an earthquake or explosion = an earthquake or an explosion an apple or pear = an apple or a pear On the other hand, expressions like "hundreds of", "thousands of", etc. all...

Hi MrP and Casi Here's another article supposedly relating to our discussion, which I just skimmed it. Sounds the construction " in a part of the entry of the indefinite article a like this: A follows the adjectives as in many a , such a , what a! and the obsolete or dialectal each a...

Essay on The Collective Noun by Sophie Johnson Traditionally, the noun that names a collective is considered to be singular. Being singular, the verbial that denotes its act is also singular: (1) The family prays every evening. (2) Australia is playing against Portugal in the final...

AT JOHN 1:1 the King James Version reads: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Trinitarians claim that this means that "the Word" (Greek, ho lo'gos) who came to earth as Jesus Christ was Almighty God himself. Someone who is "with" another person...