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Please consider this example of sentence :

“ Schools allocate places to the pupils who score highest. “

Here are two first questions :

  • Could you confirm that “schools” here means “all schools” ?
  • Could you confirm that “places” here means “some places” ?

Therefore, apart from exceptions, I would infer these two general grammar rules :

  • If the noun is subject, then the omitted article means “all”.
  • If the noun is not subject, then the omitted article means “some”.

Here are two final questions :

  • Do these rules (or equivalent ones) exist in American/British English grammars ?
  • In this case, in which grammars are these rules (or equivalent ones) mentioned ?
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  • There is no BrE/AmE distinction here at all. A null set determiner [schools] with a plural noun merely refers to a category of thing. General statements in English use plural.
    – Lambie
    Apr 30 at 15:48
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    I don't think it makes sense to assert that the zero article "means" something. Certainly there will be the implicature that you had a reason for not choosing a more precise determiner, but it's really just the absence of a determiner.
    – alphabet
    Apr 30 at 22:33
  • Lots of languages don't have articles, and people survive. So surely it's not that confusing in cases in English where articles are optional or their usage is unclear.
    – Stuart F
    May 1 at 10:44
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    I'd say that 'all schools' is over-precising, unreasonable. I'd take this as a shortening of 'In general, schools ...'. This then affects the interpretation of 'places', which I'd take as a shortening of 'most of the places they have available'. // The availability of the synonymous passivise transform 'Places are allocated by schools to the pupils who score highest' shows the S-O argument can't hold.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    May 1 at 11:31
  • This question should be on ELL and not ELU. The plural of a noun in English is not the same as **all or **some noun. (For heaven's sake).
    – Lambie
    May 1 at 13:25

3 Answers 3

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Could you confirm that “schools” here means “all schools” ?

It depends on context.

Could you confirm that “places” here means “some places” ?

It depends on context.

Do these rules (or equivalent ones) exist in American/British English grammars ?

I'm afraid not. Consider a slight variation on your sentence: "schools allocate places to students chosen by a certain committee". In this context, presumably all students chosen by that committee get places. Or switch the sentence from active to passive, making "places" the subject: "places are allocated to the pupils who score highest". Does this suddenly change the meaning from "some places" to "all places"?

In English, the zero article is generally the plural equivalent of "a", so it generally means the same thing as "some": if I say "I got eggs at the store", I don't mean that I bought every egg possible, just some eggs. This can also happen with a subject: "penguins are being shown at the zoo now" presumably doesn't refer to every penguin in the world (or even every penguin at that zoo).

However, indefinite noun phrases can also be generic, referring to the category of all eggs rather than just some specific eggs. If I say "eggs break easily", that's using a generic reference to talk about eggs in general. Similarly, if I say "I like penguins", I'm talking about the general category of penguins rather than any specific penguin.

This is an ambiguity in English, but one that usually doesn't cause much trouble, because context generally makes it clear which is intended.

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  • I strongly disagree that "the zero article is generally the plural equivalent of "a". . The zero article merely signals a category, not an amount; I bought eggs at the store (not fruit).
    – Lambie
    Apr 30 at 15:39
  • @Lambie But it can't be used for singular nouns, generally, or with a plural noun to mean a single object: *I bought egg at the store is only acceptable if you're treating it as a mass noun, and *I bought cars at the dealership is only acceptable if you bought more than one.
    – Draconis
    Apr 30 at 15:52
  • The OP is mixing up plural nouns and some/any/all. The OP does not know or realize that a plural noun in statements like theirs refers to a category, not an amount. That is the real issue here. "Schools allocate places to the pupils who score highest." means the schools do it, not the school districts, for example. And in statements like that, all and some are irrelevant.
    – Lambie
    Apr 30 at 15:56
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    In "I love horses", "horses" is a noun phrase consisting of just a noun.
    – BillJ
    May 2 at 17:06
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    Exactly what I said. It's a noun phrase. Semantically, it's got a few odd features that show up in its syntax occasionally.
    – John Lawler
    May 2 at 18:12
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What is the meaning of the zero article for a plural noun phrase in English?

First consider the singular:

“A school allocates places to the pupils who score highest.” This has to be interpreted in context. It can mean

(i) one random example of a school allocates places to the pupils who score highest. Or

(ii) one example, known to the speaker but not identified, of a school allocates places to the pupils who score highest.

Or

(iii) A school that is representative of all schools will allocate places to the pupils who score highest.”

Could you confirm that “schools” here means “all schools”?

The main problem is not “schools” but “all”

The plural is

“Schools allocate places to the pupils who score highest.”

This has to be interpreted in context. It can mean

(i) All schools allocate places to the pupils who score highest. In which the meaning of “all” varies contextually between “every school in the universe and without exception” to “the two local schools”.

Or

(ii) Generally, all schools allocate places to the pupils who score highest. This concedes that there may be specific exceptions.

Or

(iii) Schools that are representative of all schools will allocate places to the pupils who score highest.”

Could you confirm that “places” here means “some places” ?

No. It is not possible to confirm that at all. That information does not exist in “places”.

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"Please consider this example of sentence :

“ Schools allocate places to the pupils who score highest. “

Here are two first questions :

Could you confirm that “schools” here means “all schools” ? Could you confirm that “places” here means “some places” ?"

No, it is not possible to confirm that "schools" means "all schools". The same is true for "places".

The use of a plural noun in statements refers to the notion for the term.

Schools not hospitals. People not animals.

I love horses, not dogs. [refers to the category or type of animal].

etc.

And a plural noun is not the same as some or any [noun].

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