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There is a protein in our body called Intrinsic factor.

So, if there is a sentence - "The" intrinsic factor is a glycoprotein. By putting "the" before intrinsic, the sense of the sentence is like a particular factor which is intrinsic. So, by putting "the" before intrinsic, the specificity is on "intrinsic" or the whole, "intrinsic factor"?

Link from where I have studied.

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  • Hi Meera, there is no such phrase on the page you linked to.
    – Joachim
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 9:10
  • In above sentence, putting the before intrinsic factor is inapt.
    – Sam
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 9:12
  • @Joachim What phrase do you mean? the intrinsic factor appears twice in the article although not in the exact wording of the question. However the OP does say if there is a sentence not there is a sentence so the question does not refer directly to the specific wording of the article.
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 10:20
  • @Sam As I pointed out in my comment to Joachim, "the intrinsic factor" occurs twice in the article, so it would appear to be apt in some circumstances.
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 10:22
  • In the link, it is written that - The intrinsic factor is a glycoprotein.
    – Meera
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 10:27

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I do not claim to understand the article to which you link, but intrinsic factor appears to be a noun phrase so it can be used on its own, preceded by the or an without change of meaning or emphasis.

Again I know very little about physiology but there appears to be only one intrinsic factor as, in the first line of the article, it is referred to as "The intrinsic factor …" which implies there isn't another one, unlike a blood clotting factors of which there are 13.

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  • So, if I put any article before a noun phrase, it applies to all words in a noun phrase ? And also, noun phrase behave as a single entity?
    – Meera
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 11:40
  • @Meera Yes, exactly. There are bound to be exceptions which other contributors will point out, but in general a noun phrase acts as a single entity with regard to how it is used in the sentence. For example singular v plural "intrinsic factor … it …" , but "blood clotting factors … they … " and "the intrinsic factor" but "a blood clotting factor" (there are more than one known BCFs). In other words pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, gender specific wording (but obviously not in this case) and so on.
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 14:19

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