A day an apple keep( the )doctor away
- Thread starter lingkky
- Start date
When we talk about doctors, we tend to use the. Last week I went to see the doctor.
It is true that a doctor might be written. The use of the does not have to mean that it was a specific doctor; it could be one out of several doctors.
This is a common construction. For example, if you meet a friend in the street who asks you where you are going, you might say I'm on my way to the supermarket.
Even if your friend does not know which supermarket you have in mind, he or she would also think so he's off to the supermarket.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away is the correct idiom.
It is true that a doctor might be written. The use of the does not have to mean that it was a specific doctor; it could be one out of several doctors.
This is a common construction. For example, if you meet a friend in the street who asks you where you are going, you might say I'm on my way to the supermarket.
Even if your friend does not know which supermarket you have in mind, he or she would also think so he's off to the supermarket.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away is the correct idiom.
Hi lingkky
This well-known phrase is usually said, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away", because in this word order it scans and rhymes.
Using "the" here doesn't make the doctor specific, it makes it more general.
In this case it refers to any doctor, or all doctors.
"The" is often used to refer to things in general.
In the same way as in the following, "we go there in the summer", "pay the taxman", "we are the people of", "he is afraid of the dark". If you said, "a light in a darkness" it would be unusual.
This dictionary entry lists uses for the. There are many examples of situations where the is used to refer to things in a general way rather than being a specific instance of that thing.
This well-known phrase is usually said, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away", because in this word order it scans and rhymes.
Using "the" here doesn't make the doctor specific, it makes it more general.
In this case it refers to any doctor, or all doctors.
"The" is often used to refer to things in general.
In the same way as in the following, "we go there in the summer", "pay the taxman", "we are the people of", "he is afraid of the dark". If you said, "a light in a darkness" it would be unusual.
This dictionary entry lists uses for the. There are many examples of situations where the is used to refer to things in a general way rather than being a specific instance of that thing.
The doctor here should be read as doctors (in general). In theory we could say 'An apple a day keeps doctors away' but we don't, because it is a set phrase.A day an apple keep the doctor away.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Why do we cannot use plural form to form a phrase?
As I said, this is a set phrase. We say it that way, full stop. It's not a question of grammar.
e2efour said it's an idiom
london calling said it's a set phrase
aidanr444 said we say it this way because it scans and rhymes
Wikipedia calls it a proverb.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away - Wikipedia
london calling said it's a set phrase
aidanr444 said we say it this way because it scans and rhymes
Wikipedia calls it a proverb.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away - Wikipedia
Oxford lists the phrase as an "apple idiom".
However, it does not appear in The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, but only in The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs.
However, it does not appear in The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, but only in The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs.
Set phrase/idiom/proverb...whatever. The fact remains that we only say it that way.
I didn't say it wasn't regular usage.
My point is that if we were to use 'doctors' in the general sense (all/any doctors) in this phrase it would sound odd because we don't say it that way, not because it differs from 'regular usage' ('the doctor', in this case).The original question, though, is: 'Why do we say it that way?'
Another example is 'The elephant never forgets'. This is not about a specific elephant, just as John Major was not talking about a specific politician.
The answer is that English regularly uses the definite article with the singular of the noun to express a generic concept.
Another example is 'The elephant never forgets'. This is not about a specific elephant, just as John Major was not talking about a specific politician.
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Yes.
It conveys the same information, but we would use the definite article in a different context: either when speaking of the dog as a biological species, or when referring to a particular dog.
I cannot understand why "the dog " cannot be used to show a generic expression but "the doctor " does.
May I know why?
Do people say "The dog has four legs " instead of "A dog of four legs. " to show a generic expression? (not to a specific dog)
I have just said that it can be so used:
For example: 'The dog has four legs, the penguin has two'.
Got it.
Thank you