Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: "the greater part of" vs. "the greatest part of"

"the greater part of" / "the greatest part of"
Quale usare?
"As king of the Lombards, and patrician of Rome, he reigned over the
greatest part of Italy, a tract of a thousand miles from the Alps to the
borders of ..."
www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/roman/TheDeclineandFallofTheRomanEmpire-5/chap4.html
 
"but it was not long until the greater part of Italy came into the
possession of the Lombards, under whom they lived in peace."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Italy
Stesso dubbio per
"the better part of something" / "the best part of something"
http://www.allwords.com/word-the%20greater%20part%20of%20something.html
-- 
Enrico C
...still legal tender...

 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Italy
I think the greater part of Italy is most of it (divide it theoretically
into two parts: the greater part and the smaller part); the greatest part
is the vastest among the three or more parts Italy is divided into,
therefore not necessarily being most of it.
[...]
Bye, FB
-- 
Marcel: Gentlemen, may I present Miss Betty DeBoop from the Islands?
Colonel Schlissel: Caribbean or Virgin?
Betty DeBoop: Well, let's just say I came back a Caribbean.
(The Cheap Detective)

 therefore not necessarily being most of it.
I thought of that too, still I suspect of a much looser usage. 
And, consider this: while the "greatest" part is not necessarily "greater"
than all the rest, the part that is "greater" than the rest is the
"greatest" part of them all as well! 
See the two provided examples referring to the very same fact: the
domination of the "long bearded" ones (Lombards, or Langobards) over the
great*** part of 8th century Italy. 
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Che coincidenza!  Menzioni i Longobardi  e proprio ieri leggevo (o
dovrei dire rileggevo) la storia di Alboino e Rosmunda.  Una volta ogni
tanto sento il bisogno di riscoprire le mie origini.
As far as your question goes, I am not sure, but I think Enrico has a
very logical explanation.
bye
ari

Giň
-Tutto ciň che puň esistere, esiste.
          (Tullio Regge)

I think it depends.  Of course, you won't find anything such as "he is
the smarter student in the class", but I think you can come across the
definite article with the comparative form at times.  For example:
The bigger, the better.
The higher the climb, the harder the fall.
I looked up +the faster on google in the exact phrase field and got
almost three million results.

...but then when I looked again, I couldn't get more than 800
something.

"He is one of the better students" suggests he's in the top 50% (or
30%, or something like that). "He's one of the best students" suggests
he's one of the top 5% or so.
Also, remember the "He's the stronger" (of two) vs "He's the strongest"
(of three or more).

 The higher the climb, the harder the fall.
Yes, there's an article and a comparative, if nothing else.
Bye, FB
-- 
"Come, dear, we have already missed five, if not six, trains. To miss any
more might expose us to comment on the platform."
("The Importance of Being Earnest", Oscar Wilde)



Then I was right, wasn't I? I think you can always put it down to the fact
that "the -er" always suggests the parts--the parts being considered, even
theoretical ones--are two.
Bye, FB
-- 
After a year of speculation, inventor Dean Kamen unveiled his mysterious
"It", which is a battery-powered two-wheel people mover. Many believe it
will completely revolutionize the way people get hit by cars.
(Saturday Night Live)

Giò
-Tutto ciò che può esistere, esiste.
          (Tullio Regge)

 ha
scritto:

sei sempre il mejo...è vero.
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