Fish live in water/in the water

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joham

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Is 'Fish live in the water' as good English as 'Fish live in water'?

Thank you in advance.
 

bhaisahab

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Is 'Fish live in the water' as good English as 'Fish live in water'?

Thank you in advance.

Yes, in the right context.
 

joham

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Thanks, bhai. Could I ask what you mean by 'in the right context'? Are there any contexts where one of them couldn't be used? Thank you again.
 

bhaisahab

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Thanks, bhai. Could I ask what you mean by 'in the right context'? Are there any contexts where one of them couldn't be used? Thank you again.
"Fish live in water" is a general truth.
Here is an example of "fish live in the water, taken from COCA:
"Not only because you needed water to drink, but also because fish live in the water."
 

Tdol

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Or specific water- the lake used to be dead but now many fish live in the water.
 

BobSmith

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Are there any contexts where one of them couldn't be used?

"Dogs live on land. Fish live in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] water."
 
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