3
votes
a priest and a historian
They both need clarification.
a) would be fine if it went on "...a priest and a historian who met...." or "...a priest and a historian. They met..." As long as it's made clear they ...
- 7,951
3
votes
What is the difference between "a park" and "the park"
There is no rule that you use "a" on the first mention and "the" on the second mention.
You use "the" when you have established a definite identity for the noun. You use &...
- 149k
3
votes
Accepted
Why is it "learner's dictionary" and not "learners' dictionary"?
1. Why no "a"
In general, the indefinite article ("a") is pretty rare in the names of books. The definite article ("the") is much more common, but by far the most common ...
- 1,663
2
votes
Accepted
Under the/a threat of attack
Use the definite article.
Whether you say "threat of attack", or "threat of an attack" is irrelevant. Both of these noun phrases are using 'threat' in an abstract way, similar to ...
- 72.9k
2
votes
Why is it "learner's dictionary" and not "learners' dictionary"?
Saying "a learner's dictionary" on a cover page is just weird, although grammatical, it is not your typical dictionary book cover page. It omits "a" to generalise the use of the ...
- 5,537
1
vote
a priest and a historian
This NGRAM graph shows that, when talking about a single person, both forms are common, though the form in sentence b is currently somewhat more common. Here are two actual examples:
Alec Finlay is ...
- 56.2k
1
vote
a priest and a historian
I fully agree with the points you have given and yes, (a) can be used to say one of his parents was both a priest and historian, but it also might be interpreted as the mother being a historian and ...
- 5,537
1
vote
'Deep water' is a/the story
"Deep Water" is a story about Michael's childhood
implies that "Deep Water" is only one of many stories about Michael's childhood. They may be actual stories already written, or ...
- 32.4k
1
vote
Accepted
Articles before the names of sports
tl;dr: If you can say "I like cheese and I am eating cheese" then you can say "I like cricket and I am playing cricket". There is no definite article.
The mistake you make is in ...
- 149k
1
vote
Accepted
What article in front of "skin"?
#1 is the most natural sentence and would be the most common to hear. It would be appropriate when referring to the human body, whether seen personally or photographically.
The other examples would be ...
- 3,203
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