any other city/ any city

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optimistic pessimist

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Hi, everyone

I'd like to ask someone who speaks English as their first language.

1. New York is bigger than any city in Europe.
2. New York is bigger than any city in the U.S.

I understand #1 is correct, but what about #2?

My grammar textbook says since N.Y is a city in America, #2 is logically wrong and #3 is correct.

3. New York is bigger than any other city in the U.S.

Do we have to be so strict about this kind of thing in Eglish?

Thank you

OP
 

jlinger

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Your third option is the only correct one. New York is larger than any other city in the U.S.
Or, of course, New York is the largest city in the U.S.

And you should add, "by population" as apparently Yakutat City, Alaska, is the largest city in the U.S. by area. New York is 22nd!
 

TheParser

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Hi, everyone

I'd like to ask someone who speaks English as their first language.

1. New York is bigger than any city in Europe.
2. New York is bigger than any city in the U.S.

I understand #1 is correct, but what about #2?

My grammar textbook says since N.Y is a city in America, #2 is logically wrong and #3 is correct.

3. New York is bigger than any other city in the U.S.

Do we have to be so strict about this kind of thing in Eglish?

Thank you

OP
***NOT a teacher***Good morning. Yes, English can be "strict." If you say that "New York is bigger than any city in the U.S.," everybody understands. But it is helpful to write "other." If you don't write "other," then -- grammatically speaking -- you are saying that New York is not a city. Sue is bigger than any boy. No "other" because Sue is not a boy. Tom is bigger than any other boy. "Other" because Tom is a boy, too.
 
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