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Emil Veit
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 8:23 pm
Post subject: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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Dear newsgroup,
it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front of a noun
in attributive position.
How do native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 8:27 pm
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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Emil Veit wrote:
| Quote: | Dear newsgroup,
it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front of
a noun in attributive position.
How do native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
|
As long as you're not using it where you should use 'worst', it's OK.
"This is the third house the Estate Agent has shown me and a worse house
coudn't be found"
"I think voting Conservative is a worse choice than voting Green"
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Harvey Van Sickle
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 8:32 pm
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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On 06 Nov 2004, Emil Veit wrote
| Quote: | Dear newsgroup,
it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front
of a noun in attributive position.
How do native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
|
"The worse choice" is odd, but "a worse house couldn't be found" sounds
fine to me.
--
Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 22 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van)
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 8:42 pm
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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Harvey Van Sickle wrote on 06 Nov 2004:
| Quote: | On 06 Nov 2004, Emil Veit wrote
Dear newsgroup,
it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front
of a noun in attributive position.
How do native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
"The worse choice" is odd, but "a worse house couldn't be found"
sounds fine to me.
I agree. |
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 9:25 pm
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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CyberCypher wrote:
| Quote: | Harvey Van Sickle wrote on 06 Nov 2004:
On 06 Nov 2004, Emil Veit wrote
Dear newsgroup,
it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front
of a noun in attributive position.
How do native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
"The worse choice" is odd, but "a worse house couldn't be found"
sounds fine to me.
I agree.
|
"He couldn't have made a worse choice" and "'I'll open the box' was
the worse choice" would both seem unexceptional to me in suitable
contexts.
Mike. |
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Harvey Van Sickle
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 10:18 pm
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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On 06 Nov 2004, Mike Lyle wrote
| Quote: | CyberCypher wrote:
Harvey Van Sickle wrote on 06 Nov 2004:
On 06 Nov 2004, Emil Veit wrote
Dear newsgroup,
it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front
of a noun in attributive position.
How do native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
"The worse choice" is odd, but "a worse house couldn't be found"
sounds fine to me.
I agree.
"He couldn't have made a worse choice" and "'I'll open the box' was
the worse choice" would both seem unexceptional to me in suitable
contexts.
|
Good point. It was the standalone "a worse choice" that sounded
strange -- in that sort of context it's as natural as the "worse house"
example.
--
Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 22 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van) |
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J. W. Love
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 12:05 am
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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Emil wrote:
| Quote: | it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see
"worse" in front of a noun in attributive position. How do
native speakers feel with phrases like "the worse choice"
"A worse house couldn't be found"
|
Both are fine. What do you have against comparative adjectives? If your
perceptions are consistent, you find equally awkward the phrases "the better
choice" and "A better house couldn't be found." |
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Joe Fineman
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 8:21 am
Post subject: Re: "Worse" in front of nouns |
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"Emil Veit" <limeveit@t-online.de> writes:
| Quote: | it has always sounded a bit awkward to me to see "worse" in front of
a noun in attributive position. How do native speakers feel with
phrases like "the worse choice" "A worse house couldn't be found"
|
"Worse" is standard English as both an adjective and an adverb. "The
worse choice" comes off a bit formal these days, but is correct if the
choice is between two things. "A worse house" is fine on all levels.
--
--- Joe Fineman joe_f@verizon.net
||: We have torn ourselves away from nature as a man tears  |
||: himself away from a crowd. | |
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