'at the death's door' or 'at death's door'?
After doing a placement test (http://www.study.ru/test/test.php?id=97), I found out that the correct answer to

45. When he fell down again, he thought he was … .
a) at the death’s door
b) at death’s door
c) at a death’s door

was a). But all my dictionaries says that they only know the idiom 'at death's door'. Is there a mistake in the test, or should I learn about alterations in idioms when they go into real sentences?

Question

'at the death's door' or 'at death's door'?
After doing a placement test (http://www.study.ru/test/test.php?id=97), I found out that the correct answer to

45. When he fell down again, he thought he was … .
a) at the death’s door 
b) at death’s door 
c) at a death’s door

was a). But all my dictionaries says that they only know the idiom 'at death's door'. Is there a mistake in the test, or should I learn about alterations in idioms when they go into real sentences?

Answer

At death's door.

Answer

I think your test is mistaken :) Indeed, he thought he was at death's door.

Answer

I have hard times with articles before half-general nouns (as I described here: http://www.italki.com/question/210984). 
We don't use the article 'the' before 'death' here, although we use 'the' in 'the Sacrament'. :-|

Answer

Yes, "death" is treated as a human-like character in this idiom, so at whose door? At death's door.

Antworten · 6

Haben Sie noch keine Antworten gefunden?

Verpassen Sie nicht die Gelegenheit, bequem von zu Hause aus eine Sprache zu lernen. Stöbern Sie in unserer Auswahl an erfahrenen Sprachlehrern und melden Sie sich jetzt zu Ihrer ersten Unterrichtsstunde an!