Questions tagged [zero-article]
For questions about clauses or sentences that omit articles.
118
questions
37
votes
10
answers
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"By foot" vs. "on foot"
Which one is correct?
I go to school by foot.
I go to school on foot.
Are there instances when the expression by foot is preferred?
My last question is the following:
Why is the ...
28
votes
10
answers
26k
views
Omission of definite article with musical instruments
What is the rule for omitting/including the definite article in the following sentences:
I used to play piano.
I used to play the piano.
I would pick the first sentence, but I've heard people ...
22
votes
6
answers
116k
views
Why use "the" for oceans/seas/rivers etc. but not lakes?
Possibly two questions in here: Are these sentence constructions logical, and if they are, why are they different?
I swam across the Ocmulgee River.
I swam across the Pacific Ocean.
I swam ...
21
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Why do they not say "The Baby"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkXnhlCkVPM
In this video he says "put baby in" and not "put the baby in"
Also, in other baby type videos they say "place baby inside" or "now you can see that baby ...
17
votes
2
answers
3k
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Thank God it's Friday, tomorrow is THE weekend. Why the definite article?
Today is Friday. Tomorrow is the weekend.
In terms of grammar, how is the definite article justified there?
We say:
It's noon.
It's 12 o'clock.
It's August.
It's 2019.
But we also ...
14
votes
2
answers
81k
views
"During summer" vs. "during the summer"
What is the difference between saying "during summer" and "during the summer"? As in:
I work during the summer.
I work during summer.
Are both common? Is my feeling correct that the first ...
12
votes
5
answers
12k
views
Why is "the" dropped in "I go to school by bus"?
Why is the dropped in "I go to school by bus"? Why isn't it "I go to the school by the bus" if both school and bus are countable? Does the rule that a countable noun must have an article have an ...
12
votes
2
answers
2k
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Are there specific rules to build expressions with or without articles?
In English, there are lots of expressions built using articles like:
at the station
to the cinema
play the piano
have breakfast (no article)
take a bath
take a shower
Are there specific rules or ...
11
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Omission of "the" in "elected him president" and "made captain"
Why is there no the before president and captain?
They elected him president.
She was made captain of the team.
11
votes
2
answers
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Use (or non-use) of articles before abstract nouns
I know I have asked a similar question before but this time I have examples taken from COCA and they do puzzle me. I would love to hear explanations from native speakers.
The following (incomplete) ...
8
votes
2
answers
2k
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"The" for the first time only
A quote from LibreOffice user manual:
Turning on hyphenation for the Default Style paragraph style affects all other
paragraph styles that are based on Default Style. You can individually change ...
7
votes
4
answers
25k
views
Usage of "a" and "the" in titles [closed]
Which one should I use for page title?
Apple — Tasty Fruit
Apple — A Tasty Fruit
Apple — The Tasty Fruit
The article is only about tasty apple.
6
votes
2
answers
11k
views
Why is it "time of day" but "hour of the day"?
Well, the title is a little misleading, because both "time of day" and "time of the day" are possible and can have the same meaning.[here] But "time of day" is more commonly used (when we're not ...
5
votes
5
answers
2k
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Using "woman" without article: "I am woman"
I heard the lyrics of a song by Helen Reddy:
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
[…]
I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms ...
5
votes
1
answer
14k
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"Time of (the) day"
I am confused about the article usage in the phrase "time of (the) day".
From my research, I understand that "time of day" (day with the zero article) is more common and probably more idiomatic. It's ...
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What’s the reason for the zero article after a preposition and countable noun in “a change of X” and in “a switch from X to Y”?
I am a non-native speaker of English and therefore need your help. The question is: why do we use the zero article in the phrases “a change of X” and “a switch from X to Y”?
For instance:
a change ...
4
votes
5
answers
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Use of the definite article "the" before "church"
I was in a Teacher's selection for a school in my country, and one of the coordinators said that she heard a mistake from another teacher that was unacceptable. I tried to figure out why was that, but ...
4
votes
3
answers
3k
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Zero article before the word "part" - what is the particular reason for this?
Please consider the following sentences:
It's part of the life.
It's a part of the life.
What is the difference in the meaning between these sentences?
Why are we allowed to omit the article from ...
4
votes
2
answers
17k
views
"I am a legend" vs. "I am legend"
Which sentence makes sense, the first or the second?
I am legend.
I am a legend.
4
votes
3
answers
520
views
Is 'president' in 'run for president' a bare role noun phrase?
A Student's Introduction to English Grammar says:
A bare role NP is a singular NP that is ‘bare’ in the sense of lacking the determiner which would elsewhere be required, and that denotes some kind ...
4
votes
1
answer
114
views
Context Defined Nouns (the use of the definite article)
I've been doing a research on articles, trying to create a set of reliable rules for my students and I've completed the major part of it, however, there still remain some inconsistencies with bare ...
4
votes
1
answer
387
views
Omissibility of the definite article “the” before attributive modifiers of personal names in American English
Are both inclusion and omission of the definite article
the before personal names that have attributive
modifiers (nominal or adjectival or both) considered grammatical in Ameri...
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Should an article follow “some sort of” when a singular noun is used?
I was wondering what the rules are when it comes to using articles with the phrase some sort of, and specifically in this sentence:
They’re treating me like I’m some sort of a star.
They’re treating ...
4
votes
1
answer
2k
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(the omission of ) articles in front of dinner/ class?
I read on Purdue OWL names of languages/nationalities, names of sports and names of academic subjects do not require articles. But what are the other situations?
To be more specific, I saw the ...
4
votes
1
answer
530
views
Can an adjective change the use of zero versus definite article?
I have a little issue with the use of zero versus definite article, since I tend to abuse the former one.
Consider the following sentences:
The issue described above influences the quality of ...
3
votes
1
answer
12k
views
“Minutes later” vs. “a few minutes later”
Can I say this:
I forgot about it minutes later.
Or do I have to say it this way instead:
I forgot about it a few minutes later.
3
votes
1
answer
5k
views
"The bill, please" or just "Bill, please"?
Which short way of asking for a bill is correct?
Bill, please!
The bill, please!
3
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Why use "at" in this way?
I always see signs such as
Men at work
or
Children at play
I was wondering why we use "at" in this way. Is it just a formal way of saying Men Working / Children Playing?
Saying "At Lunch" ...
3
votes
2
answers
227
views
CV/Résumé - Article Drop [closed]
I think my question is rather a stylistic one, but it really bugs me.
From a grammatical standpoint, "the" should always precede ordinal numbers. However, articles are usually omitted in headlines. ...
3
votes
2
answers
67
views
Why is it OK to drop articles in “Leopard Rock is fortress and home”? [duplicate]
In episode one of the National Geographic documentary The Savage Kingdom, there is this line which you hear said (and see in the subtitles) there:
Leopard Rock is fortress and home.
The line reads ...
3
votes
1
answer
173
views
Are there significant differences in how “college” and “university” are used in syntactic constructions?
To me (an American), "what to study in college" sounds acceptable. Meanwhile, "what to study in university" sounds wrong. This suggests that these words have different grammatical attributes.
This ...
3
votes
2
answers
482
views
Why isn’t the definite article used in "The commission commanded that work [...] should cease"?
In this sentence:
The commission commanded that work on the building should cease.
Why isn't the used before the word work? It seems that the work is specified by on the building.
Another example ...
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
A definite article before government institutions
I know English uses a definite article with the names of government institutions (eg: the White House, the State Capitol and the Pentagon, etc.). But I don't know if it's the same case with the names ...
2
votes
5
answers
20k
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"I attend drawing class on Saturdays" vs. "I attend a drawing class on Saturdays"
I have recently been confronted with four statements about a child who has regularly (over more than a year) attended a drawing class (only one class) on Saturdays.
I attend drawing class on ...
2
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Zero articles in movie and book titles
Can you please explain to me, why sometimes there's no article in the movie or book titles, even if these titles are singular count nouns.
For example:
"Junky" by William S. Burroughs or "Alien" by ...
2
votes
4
answers
650
views
Why is there no article in "The Child is father of the man"?
The Rainbow by William Wordsworth:
My heart leaps up when I behold
A Rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me ...
2
votes
2
answers
216
views
"He feared a U.S. invasion" vs. "He feared U.S. invasion"
It it accurate to say this?
He feared a U.S. invasion.
Or should I say,
He feared U.S. invasion.
I'm trying to figure out when to place "a" in front of the U.S. when U.S. comes with a noun ...
2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Zero article after "of" in "a change of place"
Given the sentence
The use of apples instead of pears is unexpected in the dish.
I don't think we can use apple instead of apples. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) But then, how come we can say the ...
2
votes
1
answer
132
views
Grammar: "This changes state that has this property"
I came across this sentence in The Rust Programming Language:
: calling the 'next' method on an iterator changes internal state that the iterator uses to keep track of where it is in the sequence.
...
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
The proper time to use "zero article", though the noun is countable followed by
I basically know that when I want to use some nouns then I need to consider the proper form of the articles ahead of the nouns and if the noun is countable or uncountable.
Sometimes I see some cases ...
2
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Warning message when user navigates away from a page [duplicate]
In my software, If user edits some content of a document and clicks close icon without saving the changes he made (i.e. without clicking the save icon first), the text of message that I display to the ...
2
votes
3
answers
39k
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"With use of" vs. "with the use of"
"Do you solve engineering problems with use of programming methods, or
do you solve engineering problems with the use of programming
methods?"
Which one is correct? Are both wrong? If so, what is ...
2
votes
1
answer
250
views
Why no "the" or "a" here?
I had asked the man in wardrobe to take a photo of me.
Why is it that there's no articles before the noun wardrobe?
2
votes
1
answer
5k
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Is it necessary to use “the” before using verb+“ing” in specific contexts?
I am confused with whether it is necessary to use the before verbs in certain contexts. Like:
The milking of a cow is not a painful process at all like you think.
I am afraid it has never been ...
2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
No article with president [duplicate]
If I were president...
Why don't we have article "a" before "president"?
Thank you!
2
votes
2
answers
165
views
Zero vs. definite articles in "filial piety of son to father"
Patriotism that glues together a state is a natural extension of filial piety of a son to his father.
I want to mean the general piety a son feels for his father. Can I say directly "filial piety of ...
2
votes
1
answer
3k
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Zero Article in Family Names
This is from an article in a recent issue of Time magazine:
"Barbara Bush has said on several occasions that she suspects Americans are tired of Bushes even as she asserts that Jeb would be the best ...
2
votes
3
answers
482
views
The article of X in "a change of X"
Why can we say "a change of address", "a change of plan", etc. without any articles in front of "address" and "plan"? Aren't they countable nouns? Is it some kind of idiom for "a change of X" or a ...
2
votes
1
answer
644
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"Had a seafood dinner" or "had seafood dinner"? [closed]
Which sentence is correct?
I had a seafood dinner last night.
I had seafood dinner last night.
2
votes
1
answer
165
views
"In the third person" or "in third person"
Which is more correct?
He's talking in the third person.
He's talking in third person.
Does it matter?