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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 06-Apr-2008, 15:41
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Exclamation Are there too many "the"s?

Dear language experts,

I wrote the following sentence, but I'm not very happy with all the "the"s in it. Are there too many of them?

On the night of the event, the chairman of the board, the school principal, the seniors, the teachers and the students, again, welcomed Mr. Lin heartily.
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 16:17
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

Quote:
Originally Posted by finefeeling View Post
Dear language experts,

I wrote the following sentence, but I'm not very happy with all the "the"s in it. Are there too many of them?

On the night of the event, the chairman of the board, the school principal, the seniors, the teachers and the students, again, welcomed Mr. Lin heartily.
There aren't too many "the"s, but there are too many commas. I would omit the comma after "event", and I would definitely omit the commas before and after "again".
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 16:17
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

Quote:
Originally Posted by finefeeling View Post
Dear language experts,

I wrote the following sentence, but I'm not very happy with all the "the"s in it. Are there too many of them?

On the night of the event, the chairman of the board, the school principal, the seniors, the teachers and the students, again, welcomed Mr. Lin heartily.

On the night of the event, the Board Chairman,School Principal,Seniors, Teachers and the students, again, welcomed Mr. Lin heartily.[/quote]

Sounds better

Stilo
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 19:57
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

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Originally Posted by Stilo View Post
On the night of the event, the Board Chairman,School Principal,Seniors, Teachers and the students, again, welcomed Mr. Lin heartily.
Sounds better

Stilo[/quote]

Why "again"?
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 21:22
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

Angelika not sure, they were Finefeeling's words. I was just concerned adjusting the 'the's' didn't really notice that!
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Stilo
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 21:43
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

Presumably Mr. Lin was initially welcomed earlier.
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 23:37
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

Thank you very much for the replies!

Mr. Lin had visited the school the year before the activity I am writing about, so I inserted "again," though.
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Old 06-Apr-2008, 23:42
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Default Re: Are there too many "the"s?

You don't need the commas before and after "again".
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