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I would like to understand what exactly this "Priority Seat" represents.

Priority Seat notice

Image credit: Southern Rail, UK

For a long time, I was thinking "Priority Seat" is the name of an adjacent priority seat so that "A" is not required. Just like the name of your iPhones is "iPhone" not "an iPhone," But someone told me that "Priority Seat" is not a proper noun. The words are capitalized because it's a title.

Then I came up with a new explanation, that is, this "Priority Seat" is simply an abbreviated form of "A Priority Seat"; "A" is omitted because it is a sign. But when I imagine a sign that reads "A Priority Seat" in this context (adjacent to a priority seat) I feel so incorrect. The text wouldn't work to create the right nuance. So I had to drop this idea as well.

Could anyone explain what kind of grammatical structure is used for this "Priority Seat" so that I could clearly understand what it represents?

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    Would the same confusion exist when confronted with a sign saying EXIT, TOILET or MEETING ROOM?
    – oerkelens
    Jan 15, 2014 at 14:20
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    "This is a Priority Seat" seems working in the context, though I don't know why. Thank you.
    – mitsuwao23
    Jan 16, 2014 at 14:14
  • @Jim Your first comment (and even your second) seem like an excellent answer to this question, to me. I would upvote and be grateful if you would post it as one :)
    – WendiKidd
    Jan 16, 2014 at 23:24
  • @WendiKidd- Done.
    – Jim
    Jan 17, 2014 at 2:50

3 Answers 3

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You should envision the sign saying,

"This is a Priority Seat"

but because it's a sign, it's shortened to just "Priority Seat."
It's the same with signs that say, "Restroom" or "Exit" or "Lobby" or "Parking Garage."

This works because signs like these are labels and labels say what the things they label are.

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In "Articles: Rules of Usage and Examples", found on the website of the Gwynedd Mercy University, Philadelphia, the following instruction is given:

Use the zero article (do NOT use either a(n), the, or some) in the following ways: [...]
*With nouns used in newspaper headlines, book captions, signs or labels. (Entrance to Garage. Beware of Dog.)

Your example, "Priority Seat" falls into the "signs" category, and therefore no article is required.

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I'd say someone was wrong; titles can be proper nouns, and in this case, I'd go with the "groups of entities considered as unique" definition. Priority Seats may be the railway's title for the unique group of seats they want this special set of rules to apply to. Adding "A" to the front wouldn't change much IMHO.

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    I'm afraid that I could not agree with the idea that this "Priority Seat" is a proper noun. Based on the Wikipedia page you gave, Some proper nouns occur in plural form (optionally or exclusively), and then they refer to groups of entities considered as unique (the Hendersons, the Everglades, the Azores, the Pleiades). This is clear that the "groups of entities considered as unique" is referred to those proper nouns that occur in plural form. Consequently, Priority Seat is not what they mentioned.
    – Damkerng T.
    Jan 16, 2014 at 10:12
  • I was aware of your quoted section. In what sense is "Priority Seat" as "the railway's title for the unique group of seats" so essentially different from those examples that the term doesn't fit?
    – Nick Stauner
    Jan 16, 2014 at 10:24
  • In the same sense of those en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies. In this case, we say that X can occur as Y, and then they refer to Z. This doesn't imply that all Z is an X.
    – Damkerng T.
    Jan 16, 2014 at 10:33
  • I don't think that applies, but I can't really say for sure, as that's a very vague reply...
    – Nick Stauner
    Jan 16, 2014 at 10:36

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