94736
Do these pairs of sentences mean the same?

> あの男の人の中で誰が一番かっこいいですか。  
>  あの男の人で誰が一番かっこいいですか。

> 日本の中で札幌が一番好きな町です。  
>  日本で札幌が一番好きな町です。
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-28T20:38:47.260
94735
2022-05-29T14:29:48.547
41400
question
word-choice expressions
Can I substitute の中で with only で?
The sentences of the second pair mean the same.

As for the first pair,

> あの男の人で誰が一番かっこいいですか。

sounds a bit odd because without の中 it looks like a singular _that man_.

> あそこの男の人で誰が一番かっこいいですか。

will be fine.

* * *

Some other examples (with or without の中で is fine)

  * ヨーロッパの国(の中)でどこか一番過ごしやすいですか? Which country is the easiest to live in Europe?
  * このクラス(の中)で誰が一番背が高いですか? Who is the tallest in this class?

Here 国 or クラス is naturally understood as a realm that comparison is made.

I guess your confusing has something to do with the fact that この/あの etc +
singular noun can be understood as the realm, but without の中, it becomes less
obvious. In other words, の中で makes the preceding phrase a realm by meaning
_among_ , but simply using で means _at/in_ and sounds odd.

あの男の人たちの中で makes the "guys over there" a category, but あの男の人で doesn't. あの男の人
**たち** で is less odd, but not completely natural. On the other hand あの映画スターで
is more acceptable probably because 映画スター is understood as a category more
easily.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-28T22:08:09.027
94736
2022-05-29T14:29:48.547
2022-05-29T14:29:48.547
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94735
answer