Altogether, the Chinese New Year period lasts fifteen days.

Question

Altogether, the Chinese New Year period lasts fifteen days. It ends on the Lantern Festival.Should I keep "period" in the above or delete it? Thanks.

Hoa Thai · Accepted Answer

AngliholicAltogether, the Chinese New Year ~~period~~ lasts fifteen days. It ends on the Lantern Festival.

Should I keep "period" in the above or delete it? Thanks.

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

Altogether, the Chinese New Year period lasts fifteen days. It ends on the Lantern Festival.

Should I keep "period" in the above or delete it? Thanks.

I'd also delete the first 'the', ie '~~the~~ Chinese New Year'. I'd treat it as a proper name.

If you say that it ends on the Lantern Festival, it sounds like these are two separate happenings. If the Lantern Festival is considered part of Chienese New Year, I'd say that it ends with the Lantern Festival.

Clive

Angliholic · Answer

CliveHi guys,

Altogether, the Chinese New Year period lasts fifteen days. It ends on the Lantern Festival.

Should I keep "period" in the above or delete it? Thanks.

I'd also delete the first 'the', ie '~~the~~ Chinese New Year'. I'd treat it as a proper name.

If you say that it ends on the Lantern Festival, it sounds like these are two separate happenings. If the Lantern Festival is considered part of Chienese New Year, I'd say that it ends with the Lantern Festival.

Clive

Thanks, Hoa and Clive.

Got it.

Hoa Thai · Answer

Hi Clive,

Thanks for the catch.

Instinctively, I thought 'the' should be removed too. But I often doublecheck before I post; and this time I found many articles agree with you too. But equally in number, there are those similar to the two below:

1. 'The Chinese New Year' in en.wikipedia.org, "As the Chinese New Year starts in late January to mid February, the Chinese year dates from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1..." This article has a problem with consistency - sometimes with 'the', sometimes without.
2. "The Chinese New Year is coming up. Here's an article about the history behind the ball that drops in ...." - The Oracle Bones - Newsletter of the Oklahoma Institute for Teaching about . This one I am not too sure about.

Could it be the same reason why we see The New York Times, or as some hotel chain uses 'the', some don't?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Instinctively, I thought 'the' should be removed too. But I often doublecheck before I post; and this time I found many articles agree with you too. But equally in number, there are those similar to the two below:

1. 'The Chinese New Year' in en.wikipedia.org, "As the Chinese New Year starts in late January to mid February, the Chinese year dates from 1 January..." This article has a problem with consistency - sometimes with 'the', sometimes without.

2. "The Chinese New Year is coming up. Here's an article about the history behind the ball that drops in Times Square ...." - The Oracle Bones - Newsletter of the Oklahoma Institute for Teaching about East Asia. This one I am not too sure about.

Could it be the same reason why we see The New York Times, or as some hotel chain uses 'the', some don't?

As you say, there is no consistency. Here are a few comments you might like to consider.

If you speak of 'the Chinese New year', it suggests to me that part of your meaning is 'not the Indian new year, not the Russian new year, etc.'

In English, we often say 'I'll call you in the new year'. This can mean sometime between Jan/1 and Dec/31 next year, but usually means in the first few months of next year. Not everyone knows that Chinese new year is a limited period and not a reference to the whole year that is coming in the Chinese calendar.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

You should keep period in your statement.

Goodman · Answer

AnonymousYou should keep period in your statement.

Can you explain your reason, Anon? To me, not only does it sound cumbersome, it also is unnecessary. The context is perfectly understood without “period”. Perhaps, to emphasize the “15 day” festivity, you can say

"Chinese New Year celebration lasts fifteen days..."

Altogether, the Chinese New Year period lasts fifteen days.

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