Questions tagged [zero-article]
For questions about noun phrases that contain no articles, definite or indefinite.
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A question about articles- "the source of the ambiguity" Vs "source of the ambiguity"
Suppose that we have a piece of writing which is ambiguous in some parts. Now, I want to give my reason about the issue.
I want to use the noun source. (I know I can say that in many ways)
I would ...
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Leave class vs leave the class
So, “May I go to the bathroom?” is “Will you please permit me to leave
class and go to the bathroom?”
I guess leave class would be leave the class since both the speaker and the listener know which ...
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Is it alright to quote someone's words this way?
I am writing a diary, and I want to begin it with a famous quote, but I am not sure whether it is acceptable to do it this way:
Jeff Atwood, [article] CTO of Stack Overflow, said that "The English
...
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There is no 'the' in 'in liver of rhesus monkeys'
I have read a title of a paper on pubmed like this: Aging increases mitochondrial DNA damage and oxidative stress in liver of rhesus monkeys.
(source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22027539)
...
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When should one use articles with adjective+proper noun?
I've always thought that we don't use articles when the adjective is descriptive as in "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas". And that we do use them when the adjective makes the proper noun different from ...
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(The?) Lions in the zoo are very aggressive [duplicate]
We use a plural count noun with no article if we mean all or any of
that thing. For example:
Lions are very aggressive.
I don't like lions.
We only use the with general ...
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Can I use article 'the' with a plural noun?
according to this article (Use 15), it's against the rule to use an article 'the' before a plural countable noun (e.g. pictures, flowers, horses etc.)
sentence:
I've just sent you the pictures
In ...
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"An almost any question" vs "Almost any question"
I'm trying to understand the difference between these two sentences:
"Google can provide an answer to an almost any question." vs "Google can provide an answer to almost any question."
I understand ...
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“the assistant nurse” vs. “an assistant nurse”
Which article (an/the) is correct in this context?
This is an exercise we had to complete in our grammar class. I filled it up like this:
Write the missing articles, if one is needed.
A: Who ...
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Articles with food and structure "I have"
I have a pineapple for lunch.
I have pineapple for lunch.
Which version is correct?
What about these examples?
I have soup for dinner.
I have a soup for dinner.
I have apple and ...
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British colonies or the British colonies?
An example where this got me stumped:
An 1833 Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies
Why the definite article before the "British"? From my point of view, that would be ...
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How can I explain the uses of the definite article in these sentences?
How can I explain the uses of the definite article in these sentences?
"The school teaches blind people to read"
"Louis Braille created a writing system to allow the blind to read"
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3
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Save fuel or save the fuel?
I heard this phrase once: "He was driving slowly to save fuel." However it says about some particular fuel, which is in the tank, so using the definite article would be more logical. Why the article ...
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Articles for the words "camp" & "pub"
1) I've just read this article http://masteringarticles.com/object-activity-nouns/ and it says that "pub" is not a common activity noun, so when we say I want to go to the pub the word should be ...
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Why don't we use "the" before "third gear"?
Or fifth, fourth, whatever. Omitting the article would make sense if it were "gear five". But with gear being a countable noun, I'm totally stumped.
For example,
Whenever I start my car I switch ...
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An article before a description
Should one use an article before a description, as in You should stick to _ rule "think quality". or Look at _ sign "Elderly people"! ? I guess the same rule used as in "Room 4" or "Table 2", i.e. no ...
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Why is there the indefinite article in: “a Victorian 23 knots”?
I've recently watched Top Gear and one of the presenters said there: ...In fact, I was only doing a Victorian 23 knots.
Why did he use the indefinite article when the noun is in the plural? And what ...
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Indefinite article with the word "gay" -- "Is he gay?" vs. "Is he a gay?"
Do we need to place the indefinite article "a" before the noun "gay" or should we rather use the adjective?
As far as I'm concerned we say, "He is gay" And not, "He is a gay"
According to the Google ...
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The indefinite article with "command"
Wiktionary says that "command" is always countable, with no exceptions given. However, I've seen both "a command" and "command":
The fort has command of the valley
The tower provides a wide ...
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Without (the / no article) air and water, living things could not survive
Could you please advise whether I should use definite article 'the' in the below sentence?
I'm helping my little sister with an exercise of filling suitable article(s) into the blank of the sentence:
...
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"The afternoon tea" vs "afternoon tea"
1) Which is correct:
A) At weekends, afternoon tea is a special occasion.
B) At weekends, the afternoon tea is a special occasion.
2) Should I say "at the weekends"?
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reachability of a host vs. the reachability of a host
Source: UNIX System Administration—A Beginner's Guide by Steve Maxwell (2002)
Example:
This is useful so that the user can quickly determine reachability of a host without wasting additional time ...
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"room 7" "page 44": Why no def. article "the"? [duplicate]
Can anyone simply explain why the following expressions do not take the definite article “the”? I know (as a native speaker) that no article is needed; just looking for the precise grammar functioning ...
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"School issued delay" or "a delay" or any alternative expression? Why?
Yesterday night there were cold wind, mist, and black ice on the road, so my school district had its school start delayed for 2 hours this morning.
So if I were to write a school news article about ...
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When does one drop the article after "with"?
This question was already asked here, but didn't receive a proper answer.
In a book on writing papers in english, one reads that the article is omitted "in some expressions describing a noun". The ...
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When to use "such" before a noun and when to use "such a/an"?
Should you put an “a” here in the blank after such?
Alpha is supposed to warrant the connection between Beta and Gamma. But ____ connection seems to be already warranted.
Which one is correct ...
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What should I use a or the to talk about something in general?
When should I use "a" or "the" to talk about something in general?
The first example:
The computer has revolutionized
A computer has revolutionized
The second example:
The computer is an ...
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Should I write "solitude" or "a solitude" in the following sentence?
Sentence:
After a few days, the fresh flavor of the food became (a) stale
solitude.
I'm a bit confused about the word solitude. It sounds countable and non-countable at the same time. So I don't ...
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"A dog" or "the dog" or "dogs" ... which to use when speaking in general terms about dogs
Could you tell me all the possibilities of interpretation of this sentence.
I like a dog.
I know we should put "dogs".
But sometimes I find some books say "I like a dog."
Or like
A dog is ~~~(...
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Where are determiners required?
Please have a look at this sentence:
I'm French-speaking person.
Is this correct grammatically?
I would use an indefinite article this way:
I'm a French-speaking person.
Would you agree please?
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A possibility vs the possibility
I found both expressions.
There is a possibility that he will come.
There is the possibility that it was deliberate.
What's the difference?
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No vs not a vs not any
How would you understand if I say
He is not a teacher.
He is no teacher.
He is not any teacher.
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Why do we need "THE" in this sentence?
Golden moles
The golden moles belong to the same branch on the tree of life as the tenrecs, called Tenrecomorpha, which in turn stem from a main branch of placental mammals called the ...
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"I bought both a red and a white roses"? Are the articles and the verb correct?
"I was not sure which colour is better, so I bought both a red and a white roses"
Is it correct that there are articles and that the verb is plural?
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leap year or a leap year
The year with an extra day is called leap year.
This sentence is from an article about "Calendar".
I want to know why the article is dropped before leap year. In my opinion, the article ...
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zero article vs indefinite article vs plural
1- I like working in classroom
2- I like working in classrooms.
3- I like working in a classroom
What are the differences here ?
My guess is that 1 and 2 are synonyms and the speakers are ...
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The victims or victims?
Why is it "the victims" in this sentence?
"Mr. Trump stated, "Without looking at the various polling data, it is
obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this
hatred comes ...
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Which is natural and correct in "I prefer train/a train/trains/the train to other methods."?
This question is related to the form of a noun, like whether to add an article or not in some sort of contexts.
Which noun form is natural and correct below?
I prefer train/a train/trains/the ...
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Can the definite article "the" follow phrases like "a number of" or "a lot of" and why?
Can the definite article, "the" be used after the idiomatic phrases like "a number of" or "a lot of"? And I would like to know the reason for the answer.
I made example sentences below.
A number ...
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Would this sentence be incorrect If we omit the definite articles?
Bridge relays (or "bridges" for short) are Tor relays that aren't
listed in the main Tor directory. Since there is no complete public
list of them, even if your ISP is filtering connections to all ...
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Which one is correct- 'pleasant experience' or 'a pleasant experience? [duplicate]
I know Grammarly is not a precise source for finding grammar-related mistakes. But its verdict on the following sentence perplexes me:
It's necessary for offering pleasant shopping experience to ...
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A secretary with ____ good knowledge of English: "a" or no article?
I'm trying to pass a test on "Articles exercise" as they call it on the EnglishGrammar site.
Reviewing my answers I got stuck about the two I posted on the picture below.
As I understand both words ...
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Is it correct to omit definite article before the phrase "election day"
We'll find out where the chips fall on election day.
This sentence can be rewritten as follows:
The election will clarify how the local residents feel about it.
Election day will clear up all the ...
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(the) capital punishment and (the) death penalty
From what I have seen so far the word death penalty is used with the definite article as often as without. But apparently this is not the case with the word capital punishment according to Ngram. Why ...
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article before "clause" in "..make the purchaser aware of the provisions of clause 9 of the standard contract"
The purchaser's solicitor has a duty to make the purchaser aware of the provisions of clause 9 of the standard contract.
This is an extract from a book.
Shouldn't there be an article "the" before ...
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Why is there no definite article before "Western democracy"?
In doing so, Mawdudi is not attemping to incorporate the liberal
values of Western democracy.
Why did the author not use a definite article before Western? Should it not be used though? Since it ...
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Should one use the definite article before "peptide LC 10-28"?
The examination of the mass-spectra showed an absence of the oxidized form of peptide LC 10-28, thus we determined only the contents of oxidized peptides HC 150-156 and HC 118-140.
I'm not sure about ...
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"English", "the English" or "an English"? [duplicate]
Well, one thing came in my mind when I've posted a comment on SO.
Comment is: Do you understand English?
Can we write the English or an English ?
I'm generally use Grammar Checker when i confuse, ...
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Usage of article with "one more"
Can we use an article before "one more"?
For example:
"Please give me a one more coffee."
Thanks in advance!
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Is it correct to use zero article in this sentence?
There is an exercise in Gateway B1 Student's book, page 13, where you need to choose the correct article.
The answer key for this sentence:
The results show that ∅ / the teenagers who eat with ...
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