1

In the following sentence, can I use the zero article before 'important means' instead of 'an'?

Newspapers are still (an) important means of communication.

Improve this question
3
  • What do you mean by zero article?
    – Bella Swan
    Commented Jun 20, 2019 at 6:37
  • 1
    @BellaSwan He means omitting the article. zero article == no article.
    – Iman Mahmoudinasab
    Commented Jun 20, 2019 at 6:47
  • You mean use the plural to make a general statement?
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 29, 2021 at 0:46

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

Yes, you can omit 'an' in the sentence 'Newspapers are still (an) important means of communication.' When the 'an' is omitted, the word 'means' becomes plural. It happens that the singular and plural forms of 'means' are identical.

Improve this answer
2
  • You could substitute method and methods for with and without the an to demonstrate the plurality?
    – Smock
    Commented Jun 20, 2019 at 10:03
  • For "method" you would need to say "an important method". It only works for means because it can be both singular or plural. This ELU post asks a similar question. @Simon, (Welcome to ELL) in future, please try and reference a source :)
    – Gamora
    Commented Jun 20, 2019 at 10:55

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .