3 ms·

The word "cases" is already plural. Why does it need an article in front of it? It's one of the usages that trip me up. Why isn't it just "all cases"?

• bonoboTP 12d ago
  It seems like a shortening of "all of the cases", but I'm not a native speaker.
• hackyhacky 12d ago
  We frequently use definite articles with plurals. It simply identifies a bounded or known set. * I understand all languages. -- unbounded set, applies to every language, everywhere * I understand all the languages. -- bounded set, applies to a known set of languages, i.e. specifically those languages which are supported by a particular program To be fair, I think "all cases" in this situation is also acceptable.
• danadam 12d ago
  To me, as non-native, it seems that it may be because the idea [1] of "cases" was already introduced. So, at the start of a conversation you would say: - The rules of a/the are simple. - Not really, if you think so, then you haven't considered _all cases_. There's this exception and there's that exception. [...] but: - The rules of a/the are simple. - Not really. There's this exception and there's that exception. [...] If you think the rules are simple, then you haven't considered _all the cases_. [1] but take what I write with a big grain of salt, I can't explain why I wrote "the idea" or "the start" and I'm not 100% sure if that's correct :)
  • thaumasiotes 11d ago
    - For "the idea" and "the start", your usage is correct and changing it would be incorrect. - I don't think the explanation of "all cases" vs "all the cases" fully works. I agree with other commenters that in this example, either phrase might be used. (Whether the sentences comes after a point-by-point discussion or before.) To me, the version without the has a less natural feeling. You might describe it as more formal, or more stilted, or more abrupt, but the main point is that it's going to be somewhat dispreferred. There isn't necessarily a reason for the preference to tilt one way or the other.