Two definitions

[Naeem Afzal]

Hi teachers,

I've quoted two definitions of the two words from the Oxford dictionary.

Land - the surface of the earth that is not sea.
Earth - the hard surface of the world that is not the sea.

I would like to know why 'the' is used in the first definition and not used in the second one.

 

[Raymott]

"The" is optional there. The entries were possibly written by different people.

 

[Rover_KE]

Naeem Afzal, please note that a better title would have been is not sea/is not the sea.


Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[Odessa Dawn]

Hi.:-D

***NOT A TEACHER****

[STRIKE]Hi teachers,[/STRIKE] Unnecessary.

 

[Raymott]

I disagree, Odessa. It's short, polite and friendly. I'd rather see this than, say, "definitoin of utilitarinism"

 

[Odessa Dawn]

Hello Ray;

Have a look please:

There is no need for any salutation.

Just go ahead and ask your question.

(Rover)

Thank YOU very much. I really would like to follow advice given by Rover who has decades of experience as an English teacher.

 

[tzfujimino]

Rover has been doing that lately. I believe he's been doing it to prevent the original post from getting unnecessarily long. Cutting off unnecessary phrasing saves a lot of time in the long run.
I understand what you're saying, though, Raymott.

 

[Rover_KE]

OD, I suggest you leave it to moderators to point out things like this.

My decades of experience as an English teacher are irrelevant in matters of courtesy and protocol on the forum, of which Raymott has been a member for two years longer than I have, and whose contributions are invariably of the highest order.

Raymott's opinion is at least as pertinent as mine, and when he disagrees with a moderator he rightly does not hesitate to say so.


`

 

[Odessa Dawn]

Hi.:-D

I disagree, Odessa. It's short, polite and friendly.
`

My apologies.

OD, I suggest you leave it to moderators to point out things like this.
`

Thank you for putting me right.:-D