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Weird comment. Is there specific political contention between "the Ukraine"/"Ukraine" that made you post this? There are many non native English writers on HN,
by GuiA 9y ago
Weird comment. Is there specific political contention between "the Ukraine"/"Ukraine" that made you post this?
There are many non native English writers on HN, and I could see how some could write "the Ukraine". Obviously it's grammatically incorrect, but posting a comment just to point out a single grammatical fault/typo is typically not seen on HN.
- IgorPartola 9y agoIt is a huge pet peeve of most Ukrainians abroad. Somehow Ukaine was specifically cursed with this issue and now we are stuck trying to correct the world with regard to this problem.
- spraak 9y agoIn this case while it seems like a simple grammatical fault, it's definitely worth pointing out, though the post doesn't really explain why. > "The Ukraine is the way the Russians referred to that part of the country during Soviet times … Now that it is a country, a nation, and a recognized state, it is just Ukraine." http://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/ http://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/
- GuiA 9y agoUseful context, thanks!
- solatic 9y agoTo add onto what /u/spraak said, it's not just a Russian thing. English uses "the" as a way to indicate a region that is part of a larger whole. I'm not from the America, but I can be from the Midwest and enjoy hiking in the Catskills, and reminisce about that time I worked in the Bay Area. To refer to Ukraine as part of a larger whole, that larger whole is implied to be Russia.
- qbrass 9y agoSo you're not from the USA?
- IgorPartola 9y agoStates is not a proper noun. America and Ukraine are.