- "I play a drum."
- "I play the drum."
- "I play the drums."
My context book says it is the third one but I saw foreigners use the other choices before. So which one of the four choices is acceptable?
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How many drums do you play?– Peter ShorCommented Nov 29, 2019 at 0:16
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Possible duplicate of Omission of definite article with musical instruments.– RobustoCommented Nov 29, 2019 at 1:42
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2All of them are grammatically correct, but the third one is the most idiomatic if you are the percussionist in a band. The others might possibly used when describing a performance in which you played a single drum, such as the Toy Symphony– Kate BuntingCommented Nov 29, 2019 at 8:38
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1 Answer
I have not heard the indefinite article with an instrument, so I would not say "I play a drum." However, you could say:
I play the drums.
Here, drums is an abbreviation for a drum set. (Think of snare + cymbals + bass drum = drum set).
"I play the drum" is a little marginal, because of the abbreviation. But I have seen other instruments used, as in "I play the viola."
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It is like "I love music; I feed dogs... etc." Why any article before 'drum'? Let it naturally sound, "I play drum" similar to I play violin. 'a' or 'the' gives a little different meaning. Commented Nov 29, 2019 at 3:42
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The link cited in the main question, english.stackexchange.com/questions/6635/…, answer your query about the article.– rajah9Commented Nov 29, 2019 at 12:09
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1@RamPillai that is acceptable in certain contexts, but only if you are playing one drum. Most drummer have a drum kit, which has multiple drums, so the idiomatic way is "I play the drums" or "I play drums". Commented Nov 29, 2019 at 12:12
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