The definite article

[EntropyAlwaysWins]

A friend of mine once set himself a challenge that goes as follows:

Go one day without using the definite article whilst still going about his normal daily activities.
This turned out to be significantly harder than he expected as, in the course of an hour, he used the word 'the' at least 11 times whilst trying not to.

Anyway, where this is going is:

(1) What is the most commonly used English word? (in normal conversation)
(2) Do you think you would be able to complete this challenge?

[Fraggle Rocker]

A friend of mine once set himself a challenge that goes as follows: Go one day without using the definite article whilst still going about his normal daily activities. This turned out to be significantly harder than he expected as, in the course of an hour, he used the word 'the' at least 11 times whilst trying not to.Articles are almost entirely noise-words, but "almost" leaves a lot of leeway. If you take all the articles out of your sentences, most of the time you will just sound like a Russian, Japanese or Chinese. But occasionally it will change the meaning of your sentence. So you'd have to think carefully about each sentence and restructure the ones in which "the" imparts some meaning.Anyway, where this is going is: (1) What is the most commonly used English word? (in normal conversation)I'm betting on "the," but I'll let someone else do the work of Googling it. I just looked at the newspaper clipping that happens to be on my desk at the moment, and "the" is the clear winner. "A" and "an" come in second and third, or vice versa. If they were counted as the same word (as they sometimes are), they might give "the" a run for the money. It's an article about hospitals so "hospital" comes next.(2) Do you think you would be able to complete this challenge?No. It requires speaking slowly and thinking deliberately about every word. I wouldn't be able to do that in normal conversation. And I'm both an amateur linguist and a professional editor. It would be even harder for the rest of you.

[Enmos]

Pretty close Fraggle !

1. the
2. of
3. and
4. a

http://www.duboislc.org/EducationWatch/First100Words.html

[EntropyAlwaysWins]

And I'm both an amateur linguist and a professional editor. It would be even harder for the rest of you.

IIRC, the point of the challenge was to see if you could think fast enough to think through every word of every sentence without overtly appearing to be doing so.
Either that or if you could remember not to say 'the'. :D

[Fraggle Rocker]

IIRC, the point of the challenge was to see if you could think fast enough to think through every word of every sentence without overtly appearing to be doing so. Either that or if you could remember not to say 'the'.We don't think in that manner when we form our speech. Attorneys depend on this when they cross-examine witnesses. Our ability to exert conscious control over the form of our speech, rather than the substance, is very limited. This is something only highly talented and trained actors, diplomats, public speakers and con artists can do.

If you ever have the chance to listen to a recording of your own conversation--or even a presentation, which you assume you're crafting very carefully and consciously--it will be a humbling experience. Look how hard it is for us to excise things like "ya know" from our language, or to avoid using slang or vulgar terms in polite company.

Some very complicated processing takes place in our speech center. I would suggest the word "paraconscious," although it appears to have already been coined by psychologists for something else.

[EntropyAlwaysWins]

We don't think in that manner when we form our speech. Attorneys depend on this when they cross-examine witnesses. Our ability to exert conscious control over the form of our speech, rather than the substance, is very limited. This is something only highly talented and trained actors, diplomats, public speakers and con artists can do.


hmm, this is probably why I find it much more useful to pay more attention to the form of peoples speech instead of the substance when trying to determine what they are trying to communicate.