Superlative

[wotcha]

1) Tom is the fastest boy in hte world.

2) Tom is faster than any other boy in the world.

3) No other boy is faster than Tom in the world.

4) No other boy is as fast as Tom in the world.


Why do you say 'no other boy' not 'no other boys' in this case?

Is it grammatically wrong to say ' No other boys are faster than Tom in the world'?


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[JohnParis]

1) Tom is the fastest boy in the world.

2) Tom is faster than any other boy in the world.

3) No other boy in the world is faster than Tom.

4) No other boy in the world is as fast as Tom.

We say "no other boy" because this means all of the other boys. You will hear people say "No other boys in the world are faster than Tom", but it's incorrect. Only ONE boy can be the fastest in the world, and the use of "other boys" implies a group.

John

[5jj]

1) You will hear people say "No other boys in the world are faster than Tom", but it's incorrect. Only ONE boy can be the fastest in the world, and the use of "other boys" implies a group.

I don't agree. It may be true that 'No other boys are the fastest in the world' is not really possible, but 'No other boys are faster than Tom' seems to me to be acceptable.