Questions tagged [zero-article]

For questions about clauses or sentences that omit articles.

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37 votes
10 answers
424k views

"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 ...
aliya's user avatar
  • 1,541
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 ...
YGL's user avatar
  • 383
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 ...
Brad's user avatar
  • 537
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 ...
TheBlackBenzKid's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 ...
john-hen's user avatar
  • 522
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 ...
fuenfundachtzig's user avatar
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 ...
learned discoverer's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

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 ...
Part Timer's user avatar
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.
lukas's user avatar
  • 915
11 votes
2 answers
11k views

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) ...
Fairdinkum's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

"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 ...
john c. j.'s user avatar
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.
Marvin3's user avatar
  • 187
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 ...
Færd's user avatar
  • 4,173
5 votes
5 answers
2k views

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 ...
noordinator's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
14k views

"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 ...
stillenat's user avatar
  • 265
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 ...
Dmytro Shun's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
41k views

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 ...
Costa Caroline's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
3k views

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 ...
BGa's user avatar
  • 169
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.
Mostafa Prog's user avatar
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 ...
listeneva's user avatar
  • 1,448
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 ...
Mr. Past Progressive's user avatar
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...
gene b.'s user avatar
  • 197
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 ...
merenneitokissa's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

(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 ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 41
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 ...
Mannimarco's user avatar
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.
Mona's user avatar
  • 33
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!
sirdarpeace's user avatar
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" ...
user avatar
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. ...
user avatar
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 ...
tinlyx's user avatar
  • 574
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 ...
user204517's user avatar
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 ...
KSS's user avatar
  • 151
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 ...
Karanjeet Kaur's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
20k views

"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 ...
jhuk's user avatar
  • 123
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 ...
pawel maria's user avatar
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 ...
Yujin's user avatar
  • 21
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 ...
Pirate's user avatar
  • 121
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 ...
Felix Wong's user avatar
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. ...
J-Kappes's user avatar
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 ...
Sam's user avatar
  • 143
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 ...
Ayse's user avatar
  • 161
2 votes
3 answers
39k views

"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 ...
jeff's user avatar
  • 121
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?
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
5k views

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 ...
Mistu4u's user avatar
  • 673
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!
Irina's user avatar
  • 21
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 ...
benlogos's user avatar
  • 1,537
2 votes
1 answer
3k views

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 ...
Valeriya's user avatar
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 ...
JJcat's user avatar
  • 347
2 votes
1 answer
644 views

"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.
pkan51's user avatar
  • 21
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?
jakeva's user avatar
  • 515