Re: "Assume for a/the moment"

On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 21:27:32 -0500, Don Phillipson wrote:

> "FB" <fam.balducciNOSPAM@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:198xpb4o6t7m7$.8yhgft6jdmrp$.dlg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>> "The moment" => "this moment", broadly speaking. I believe in ancient
>> Greek articles were originally pronouns and adjectives. "A moment" => "any
>> moment".
>
> True or false, this may be irrelevant, so far as Greek
> grammar was no direct ancestor of English grammar.

Yes, but it's an odd coincidence that articles exist in many languages and
are used in similar ways.


Bye, FB
--
I sometimes get the feeling that those who teach the language know less
about it than anybody.
(Don Aitken on alt.usage.english)
.

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