an/the average man

[Mnemon]

a. The life expectancy for an average man in Switzerland is 77 years.

b. The life expectancy for the average man in Switzerland is 77 years.

What's the difference between the two?

 

[Rover_KE]

For me – none.

 

[Tdol]

I would agree in this context, but that doesn't mean they are synonymous- we have different forms for reasons, though they may meet occasionally.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't see any real difference in meaning. I would word it differently though.

The average male life expectancy in Switzerland is 77.

(Non-language point: In 2019, the average life expectancy in Switzerland was 83.7 years (women 85.6; men 81.9). That's 12 years above the global average.)

 

[jutfrank]

The life expectancy of an average man ...

 

[5jj]

This Ngram suggests that 'for' is more common.

 

[jutfrank]

This Ngram suggests that 'for' is more common.

That Ngram is not relevant since both are correct in their proper contexts. Try simply putting the before both phrases and you'll get reversed results:

Google Books Ngram Viewer

Google Books Ngram Viewer

books.google.com

 

[5jj]

Fine, but it seemed that you corrected 'for' to 'of' in your post. It wasn't clear that you were just offering an alternative.

 

[jutfrank]

Fine, but it seemed that you corrected 'for' to 'of' in your post. It wasn't clear that you were just offering an alternative.

No, I'm saying that for is wrong, which is why I corrected it.

 

[5jj]

It is not wrong. Both Ngrams showed how common it is.

 

[Mnemon]

No, I'm saying that for is wrong, which is why I corrected it.

It's worth noting that the original sentence has been taken from the book Common Mistakes at IELTS Advanced. I'm going to attach a screenshot of the part concerned.



Following reading the part, a question came to my mind that what the difference between the "the/an average man" here in this context is. So, I created this thread.

Amazon.com: Common Mistakes at IELTS Advanced: And How to Avoid Them: 9780521692472: Moore, Julie: Books

Amazon.com: Common Mistakes at IELTS Advanced: And How to Avoid Them: 9780521692472: Moore, Julie: Books

www.amazon.com

Off Topic: Latterly I created a thread asking about the preposition before the noun, exam _ on/at/in
I just noticed that the author of the book utilized "at" for the IELTS exam!!!

on this exam

I'm bent on getting an A on this exam, so I've been studying all week. https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bent+on Do you normally use the preposition on here or probably at or in?

www.usingenglish.com

 

[jutfrank]

It is not wrong. Both Ngrams showed how common it is.

I'm not saying it's always wrong.

Different prepositions have different meanings, which means that the two phrases have different meanings too. Putting the word the at the beginning of the phrase reveals this difference:

the life expectancy of an average man = life expectancy is a duration; i.e., how long an average man is expected to live
life expectancy for an average man = life expectancy is treated as a figure, a number associated with an average man

These are quite different meanings. It's possible to use the before the second of the phrases above, but I don't think the writer meant to do that. If so, it's a mistake, which means it's wrong.

 

[Mnemon]

I think you've got a point there, @jutfrank. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tdol]

This Ngram suggests that 'for' is more common.

Stripped down to basics about life expectancy + for/of, the results change a bit.

 

[jutfrank]

Stripped down to basics about life expectancy + for/of, the results change a bit.

Right. We should remember that ngrams cannot understand meaning or grammar. They only represent instances of particular strings of words.

Members should be very careful when using them. Results can be irrelevant and misleading.

 

[5jj]

True, but all three Ngrams mentioned in this thread confirm the not uncommon existence of life expectancy for, two of them of the life expectancy for. . Without real context, and unwilling to guess at the writer's intentions I did/do not feel confident enough to say that it was wrong in Mnemon's sentence.