A university education

Question

There is a sentence that reads : William Golding was a very famous English write. After a university education, the first job he did was to work in the theatre as an actor. I know that this sentence is grammatically correct, but a friend of mine is not convinced of the underlined part of the sentence. He believes that this part is wrong as the use of the indifinte article here is not proper . I tried to explain to him that the use of "a" is ok since there are various kinds of education and the university education is one of them. It seems that I didn't get my idea across to him. Do you have a convincing answer to my friend's question?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I assume your friend is not a native speaker of English. You could try searching Google for examples of the usage, to show him.

eg This is from the University of Oxfprd admissions site.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/lifelong_learning/index.html

Harris Manchester College offers Oxford degree courses solely to mature students. It offers full-time study opportunities to people who may have missed out on a university education the first time around and to those who, having finished one career, wish to retrain for a new one.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

CliveHi,

I assume your friend is not a native speaker of English. You could try searching Google for examples of the usage, to show him.

eg This is from the University of Oxfprd admissions site.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/lifelong_learning/index.html

Harris Manchester College offers Oxford degree courses solely to mature students. It offers full-time study opportunities to people who may have missed out on a university education the first time around and to those who, having finished one career, wish to retrain for a new one.

Best wishes, Clive

ok . I'm not a native speaker . Is that a reason for not being convinced ?

I think there is a difference between : '' After a university education '' and '' After university education ''

. The difference may be slight but it exists . Please , Clive , tell me the difference to be convinced .

Look at the whole sentence again , please . Thank you .

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Your original question seemed to me to be not whether one could say both, but whether the version with 'a' was wrong.

Let's turn now to your later post.

I think there is a difference between : After a university education and After university education

. The difference may be slight but it exists . Please , Clive , tell me the difference to be convinced .

Look at the whole sentence again , please .

I'd rather look at two simpler examples. As you can see, these take us into a discussion of meaning instead of grammar. Moreover, to some extent the use and meaning of these two forms is just idiomatic.

Golding had a university education. This sounds very normal. I view it as meaning that there are various kinds of uniiversity education, and he had one of those kinds.

It also sounds to me like Golding completed his university education.

Golding had university education. This is less common, in my experience.

The lack of any article makes it a general 'non-countable' kind of reference.

It also suggests to me that Golding may possibly not have completed his university education.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

CliveHi,

Your original question seemed to me to be not whether one could say both, but whether the version with 'a' was wrong.

Let's turn now to your later post.

I think there is a difference between : After a university education and After university education

. The difference may be slight but it exists . Please , Clive , tell me the difference to be convinced .

Look at the whole sentence again , please .

I'd rather look at two simpler examples. As you can see, these take us into a discussion of meaning instead of grammar. Moreover, to some extent the use and meaning of these two forms is just idiomatic.

Golding had a university education. This sounds very normal. I view it as meaning that there are various kinds of uniiversity education, and he had one of those kinds.

It also sounds to me like Golding completed his university education.

Golding had university education. This is less common, in my experience.

The lack of any article makes it a general 'non-countable' kind of reference.

It also suggests to me that Golding may possibly not have completed his university education.

Best wishes, Clive

Thank u , Clive .

I agree with u completely that '' Golding had university education '' is wrong .

But that's not what makes me not convinced . I mean after the word " After " .

I think u accept : " After his university education , ........ .

If u accept it , u can't accept '' After a university education , ........ .

Is that correct ?

I know that '' education '' can be C or UNC but it depends on how the sentence runs on .

Really thnak you .

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I agree with u completely that Golding had university education is wrong . I didn't say it was wrong. I said it was 'less common', and that it suggested a different meaning.

But that's not what makes me not convinced . I mean after the word " After " .

I think u accept : " After his university education , .. .

If u accept it , u can't accept After a university education , ........ .

Is that correct ? No, it's not correct. You can say it either way. With 'a', it will be assumed that the writer is talking about Golding's education. No-one will think that the writer is talking about someone else's education.

We say this kind of thing all the time. eg After an illness, he died.

I know that education '' can be C or UNC but it depends on how the sentence runs on .

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

CliveHi,

I agree with u completely that Golding had university education is wrong . I didn't say it was wrong. I said it was 'less common', and that it suggested a different meaning.

But that's not what makes me not convinced . I mean after the word " After " .

I think u accept : " After his university education , .. .

If u accept it , u can't accept After a university education , ........ .

Is that correct ? No, it's not correct. You can say it either way. With 'a', it will be assumed that the writer is talking about Golding's education.
Yes , That's it . I'm now convinced . lol
That's a convincing answer . Thank u .
No-one will think that the writer is talking about someone else's education.
Could u please explain what u mean here ?

We say this kind of thing all the time. eg After an illness, he died.

I know that education '' can be C or UNC but it depends on how the sentence runs on .

Clive

Thank u

Clive · Answer

Hi,

No-one will think that the writer is talking about someone else's education.

Could u please explain what u mean here ?

We say this kind of thing all the time. eg After an illness, he died.

If I say 'After a university education, Tom got a good job', it's obvious that I'm talking about Tom's university education and not Fred's university education.

If I say 'After an illness, Tom died', it's obvious that I'm talking about Tom's illness and not Fred's illness.

Best wishes, Clive

Sync2009 · Answer

Actually, we are conditioned to believe that the indefinite article "a, an" is used to talk about a general situation and people are in a muddle when someone uses it for a specific condition.

First, we should understand that language is an inexact science where 2+2 can equal to 5. Consider the following examples:

a) The former Vice-Chancellor of Queen's, the late Sir Gordon Beveridge, often remarked that the whole point of a university education is “learning to learn”

b) Ms Morgan, who has just sat her A levels and is hoping to begin studying archaeology in September, said she was aware that a university education was no guarantee of a quality job.

Merci

Sync

Anonymous · Answer

Hey Clive

wanna ask about the 2nd part of the sentence
" the first job he did was an actor ..." or " a first job he did was an actor ...." which is correct ???

Clive · Answer

Hi,

wanna ask about the 2nd part of the sentence
" the first job he did was an actor ..." or " a first job he did was an actor ...." which is correct ???

He only had one 'first job', so it is a specific reference. Say 'the first job . . . '.

It is not standard English to say" the first job he did was an actor ..."

because a job is not an actor.

Say

eg 'The first job he did was as an actor'.

eg The first job he did was acting / to act'.

Clive

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Could u please explain what u mean here ?

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