Question
Updated on
5 Dec 2022
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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English (US)
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Japanese
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English (UK)
Question about English (US)
Which sounds the most natural?
1. All people love peace.
2. All the people love peace.
3. Everyone loves peace.
4. Everybody loves peace.
Which sounds the most natural?
1. All people love peace.
2. All the people love peace.
3. Everyone loves peace.
4. Everybody loves peace.
1. All people love peace.
2. All the people love peace.
3. Everyone loves peace.
4. Everybody loves peace.
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5 Dec 2022
Featured answer
- English (US)
They’re all natural, but 2 has a slightly different meaning than the others. Adding “the” makes it seem like you’re talking about a specific group of people that was mentioned before. The others mean every person in the world loves peace.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
- English (US)
They’re all natural, but 2 has a slightly different meaning than the others. Adding “the” makes it seem like you’re talking about a specific group of people that was mentioned before. The others mean every person in the world loves peace.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Thank you! What about this sentence? Does it need “the” or not?
All (the) people in the world love peace.
All (the) people in the world love peace.
- English (US)
@studiousboy It doesn’t need it because it works with or without it. But at this point, the sentence is starting to become unnatural. If you mean every person in the world, then you can just say “everyone” or “everybody”. By definition, those words include every person in the world. So you don’t need to add anything else to the sentence.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Ok. Thank you! Does this sound natural though?
Lily: Can you drink?
Sarah: No, I can’t drink. I don’t ever drink.
Lily: Can you drink?
Sarah: No, I can’t drink. I don’t ever drink.
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 To avoid repeating “drink”, can I change the conversation like this?
Lily: Can you drink?
Sarah: No, I can’t do it. I don’t ever do it.
Lily: Can you drink?
Sarah: No, I can’t do it. I don’t ever do it.
- English (US)
@studiousboy You can, but that doesn’t mean you should. In this case, repeating “drink” sounds a lot more natural. It also makes the speaker sound emphatic about not drinking.
If you want to minimize the repetition of “drink”, you can say:
No, I can’t. I don’t ever drink.
or
No, I don’t ever drink.
Those are also a lot more natural than saying “do it” in this case.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Ok. Thank you! My English teacher said we should always avoid repetition. If our sentence contains any repetition, it’s bad English. So, *when* would Americans choose to repeat a key word?
Read more comments
- English (US)
@studiousboy You can say “over a period of time” or “over a period of [specific amount of time]. Here’s an example sentence and an explanation:
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
You can also remove “period” altogether and just say “over [specific amount of time]”. For example:
Your allowance will be spread out over 12 months.
This means that you won’t receive all of your allowance at once. You will get small portions of it throughout the year instead.
And you cannot replace “over” with “during” or “in” in this case.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 You’re awesome! Thank you. Then what about this blank? Which fits better? “In” or “at”?
I was taking a shower ____ that time.
I was taking a shower ____ that time.
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 So “in” doesn’t make any sense here? If so, is there a situation where “in that time” would sound natural?
- English (US)
@studiousboy “At that time” is correct because you’re talking about a specific point in time.
I guess you could use “in that time” when you’re talking about something that happened during a period of time, but I believe it’s still more common to use “at that time” or “in those times/days”.
Ex. Life expectancy was a lot lower in the 1600s. So, most people got married at a young age in those times/in those days/in that time/at that time.
In this example, “in those times/days” sounds a lot more natural.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Alright. Thanks a lot! Also, which of these do you think sounds more natural?
1. Her hair is straight up like a ball of wool.
2. Her hair is straight up like wool.
1. Her hair is straight up like a ball of wool.
2. Her hair is straight up like wool.
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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