At five o'clock

[moseen]

Hello everybody!
in the sentence below, is "five o'clock" countable or uncountable? why doesn't it have "the"?

I'll see you at five o'clock.

 

[LVRBC]

Maybe "why" is not the best question - much of English usage simply is what it is. We say, "I'll see you at five o'clock," because that's what we say. I can see you are looking for generalizable rules, and that may be a good way to approach some languages, but not this one.

 

[moseen]

Maybe "why" is not the best question - much of English usage simply is what it is. We say, "I'll see you at five o'clock," because that's what we say. I can see you are looking for generalizable rules, and that may be a good way to approach some languages, but not this one.

"five" is a definite, why doesn't it have "the"?

 

[LVRBC]

Perhaps the question that would best help you learn English is not "why" but "how." How does one say X in English?

 

[sound shift]

"five" is a definite, why doesn't it have "the"?

You appear to be assuming that everything definite needs a definite article. It's not the case.

 

[sdgraham]

"five" is a definite, why doesn't it have "the"?

Because we don't say it that way, which overrules anything you might have heard or read.

 

[natkretep]

Two things:

(1) 'Five o'clock' is derived from 'five of the clock' (meaning 'five according to the clock'), and so there was originally a the in the expression.

(2) Think of 'five' as functioning as a kind of a name - it is the name of the hour. When we use numbers as name substitutes, we do not use articles. If have numbered items in this way, we say, 'This is (number) three' and so on without any article. We also say, 'This is our neighbour from number seven' (referring to a house number).'

 

[moseen]

Perhaps the question that would best help you learn English is not "why" but "how." How does one say X in English?

Thank you.

You appear to be assuming that everything definite needs a definite article. It's not the case.

Thank you.

Because we don't say it that way, which overrules anything you might have heard or read.

Thanks a lot.

Two things:

(1) 'Five o'clock' is derived from 'five of the clock' (meaning 'five according to the clock'), and so there was originally a the in the expression.

(2) Think of 'five' as functioning as a kind of a name - it is the name of the hour. When we use numbers as name substitutes, we do not use articles. If have numbered items in this way, we say, 'This is (number) three' and so on without any article. We also say, 'This is our neighbour from number seven' (referring to a house number).'

I understand thank you for your help.