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 community
Context: "He served as (the) chairman of the committee of the festival since its origin."
As far as I know, no article is needed when we speak about positions that are one-of-a-kind, like president and mayor. But do we need an article with "serve as" in more general contexts?
Both are correct. If Google Ngrams can be believed, "served as chairman" has been more common for a long time.
But be aware that "chairman" may have sexist connotations. Unless you have a good reason not to do so, I recommend "served as chair." Google also indicates that this genderless version has gained popularity in the last few decades.
On a side note, use "has served" with "since." With the simple past that you have chosen, you would be more likely to write something like this:
He served as chair of the committee of the festival from its origin until 2019.
The following is more succinct and eliminates the repetition of "of":
He chaired the committee of the festival from its origin until 2019.
Obviously, such a change alters the nature of my response. There is nothing inherently wrong with "served."
Should "Committee of the Festival" be capitalized as I show it here? If that its official name, then the caps are probably required.
