Do you say: I want a hotdog without buns. VS I want a hotdog without the buns.

[B45]

Do you say: I want a hotdog without buns. VS I want a hotdog without the buns.

Are both okay?

 

[charliedeut]

I guess the hot-dog/bun ratio is 1/1, so it should be "bun", not "buns".

 

[emsr2d2]

It should certainly be in the singular and it would work perfectly well with the definite or indefinite article.

I would like a hot dog without a bun.
I would like a hot dog without the bun.


One hot dog please. No bun.

Technically, however, it's only a hot dog if it's a steamed sausage in a bun. Without the bun, you just want a sausage (or a frankfurter, in BrE).

 

[MikeNewYork]

Bun or not, it is still a "hot dog" in the US. We buy packs of "hot dogs". We use "'frankfurter" or "franks" sometimes, but "sausage" means something different.

 

[B45]

Bun or not, it is still a "hot dog" in the US. We buy packs of "hot dogs". We use "'frankfurter" or "franks" sometimes, but "sausage" means something different.

What if I change hotdog to hamburger?

One hamburger without the buns. I want it protein style. Can I omit the 'the'?

 

[MikeNewYork]

It would still be "a bun" or "the" bun". The word "bun" means both top and bottom.

 

[emsr2d2]

You have a burger "in a bun". It is one single hamburger bun which has been sliced in half. That doesn't make it "buns". I don't know about AmE, but in BrE "protein-style" means nothing. I understand what you mean - you want the protein of the meat in the hamburger without the carbs of the bun, but we don't use that phrase here.