Here's a sentence from a textbook:
You can use the word partner to describe either a husband or wife or the person that someone lives with.
Why is there no article before the word 'wife'? Is it correct English grammar?
English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityHere's a sentence from a textbook:
You can use the word partner to describe either a husband or wife or the person that someone lives with.
Why is there no article before the word 'wife'? Is it correct English grammar?
You can use the word partner to describe either a husband or wife or the person that someone lives with.
This is known as parallel structure. The first paragraph at this first site explains it best. In a parallel construction repeat an article (a, an, the), a preposition, or pronoun whenever necessary to make the meaning clear. The meaning of "a husband or (a) wife" is clearly understood.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/01/
At this next site, scroll down to all the NOTES about what you can omit in a parallel construction
http://english.tutorvista.com/grammar/parallel-structure.html
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-parallelism.html