Re: CHAT: Definite/Indefinite Article Distinction

On 10 Sep 02, at 12:22, bnathyuw wrote:

> use of def art with proper nouns : Greek, German
> use of def art with abstract nouns : Greek, French (
> does German do this ? )
Does Greek do the second? Are you talking about Ancient or Modern
Greek? I think I would say "Prepei na exeis agaph" for "You have to
have love", which has an abstract noun without the definite article.
(Though this could be due to the fact that Greek is my L3.)

And does German do the first? Well, it can, but I'd say that "Ich gab
es dem Hans" and "Ich gab es Hans" are both equally correct. (The forms
with definite article before proper nouns I'd consider more south
German -- I think that usage is more common there.) But Greek
definitely uses def art before proper nouns.

How about "use of def art with possessive pronouns", as Italian does
("il mio X" vs, say, Spanish "mi X" and French "mon X")?

Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <Philip.Newton@...>

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