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Source: My Aussie teacher
They are the one's nearest and dearest in my life.
Shouldn't it be without an apostrophe: "the ones?" Because it should be plural(they).
And is it ok that we omit "the" in the superlatives("nearest" and "dearest")?
Dirty Hippy
Posted 2017-08-28T04:32:58.287
Reputation: 115
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It needs to be
the ones
since it is a specific group of people and this is the usual pattern for expressing this.
Edit
I just reread the question. Thing is that BrE and its derivations, AusE included, do funny things with the determinant "the". For example
He is in the hospital. (AmE)
He is in hospital. (BrE)In the future, we should avoid bad weather. (AmE)
In future, we should avoid bad weather. (BrE)
To me, it's part the cultural differences between AmE and BrE, AmE tends to err on the side of specificity.
Peter
Posted 2017-08-28T04:32:58.287
Reputation: 63 575
Yes, for me it's also so obvious and usual I wonder why my native English teacher denies it – Dirty Hippy – 2017-08-28T05:03:10.153
Ask her for an explanation. – user3169 – 2017-08-28T06:03:56.730
Sorry, I still do not understand, "should we use the article "the" before "nearest" or not? – Dirty Hippy – 2017-08-30T04:51:15.150
1It's a matter of style "They are nearest and dearest in my life" = "They are *the* nearest and dearest in my life", both have the same meaning. – Peter – 2017-08-30T20:43:51.397