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1) "David Rockefeller was authorized to hold the position of director of the Council on Foreign Relations."My question is =&gt; Why does the word "director" does not have any article in this sentence?Thanks a lot in advance.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

MaroldWhy does the word "director" does not have any article in this sentence?

It's a role or position or job title. These sorts of terms very frequently occur without articles.

He wants to be president.
She acted as mother to the orphans.
Mr. Jones is novelist of the year.

CJ

Marold · Answer

It stuck in my mind that an occupation always has an indefinite article => "He is a novelist." or "He works as a teacher."

Unfortunately, I cannot see the difference between your sentences and those that I have just written above.

CalifJim · Answer

Marold"He is a novelist." or "He works as a teacher."

Yes. Those are right.

MaroldUnfortunately, I cannot see the difference between your sentences and those that I have just written above.

Yours don't focus on the roles, I suppose. The situations where you use the article and where you don't are probably difficult to separate. I don't know if there are any exact rules about it. I hope someone else can help you on the finer points.

CJ

Marold · Answer

Thanks for your efforts to clarify this problematic matter.

But let me ask you a question. How do you personally determine whether you are going to omit an article or include it in these similar sentences? Is it done subconciously by the fact that you are a native speaker or do you have to think about it?

I am still struggling to acquire a sufficient understanding of the usage of articles in some cases. Sometimes there seems to be no justification at hand and I simply tend to choose the most probable one that pops into my head using my language sense.

CalifJim · Answer

MaroldIs it done subconciously by the fact that you are a native speaker

Yes. I suppose you could say it like that.

Marolddo you have to think about it?

No. Never.

MaroldSometimes there seems to be no justification at hand

Unfortunately, true.
__________

In the case at hand sometimes it's a matter more of speaker intent rather than of grammatical rule. Sometimes an article in front of a word that signifies a role sounds wrong, but not always. That means there are also many times when speakers are somewhat indifferent to whether there is an article there or not.

For me it's purely a psychological phenomenon. If I "feel inside" that it's a role, not an individual person, I automatically leave off the article.

He is a carpenter would always have the article because he is an individual who belongs to the set of individuals known as carpenters.

Larry acted as manager while Fred was away lacks the article because Larry took on the role of manager within the organization.

That's about all I have for now.

CJ

Marold · Answer

CalifJimHe is a carpenter would always have the article because he is an individual who belongs to the set of individuals known as carpenters.

CalifJimLarry acted as manager while Fred was away lacks the article because Larry took on the role of manager within the organization.

These two sentences certainly make some sense to me. Thanks for that, I am much more clear about it now.

CalifJimIn the case at hand sometimes it's a matter more of speaker intent rather than of grammatical rule

Let me pose a question that is a little bit off topic. Why did you not include an article in front of "grammatical rule"? My reasoning behind this question would be that the word "rule" should here act as a countable noun. Furthermore, it is specified by the adjective "grammatical".

What am I missing in this case? Why is the word "rule" in fact an uncountable noun?

Clive · Answer

A small additional comment.

Larry acted as manager while Fred was away. Suggests there was only one manager.

Larry acted as a manager while Fred was away. Suggests the company had more than one manager.

CalifJim · Answer

MaroldWhat am I missing in this case? Why is the word "rule" in fact an uncountable noun?

I don't think I would let the reasoning go down the path of "countable vs uncountable" in this case. The uncountable side of that dichotomy includes abstractions, and that's what I think is more important here.

It's possible (though I'm not claiming to be an expert here) that what you're missing is "of", which to my ear makes the following term an abstraction of some kind. It explains what kind of matter is involved in an abstract way.

a matter of speaker intent; a matter of grammatical rule; a matter of choice; a matter of law

These are ways, I think, that we express ideas without resorting to awkward compound nouns:

a speaker intent matter; a grammatical rule matter; a choice matter; a law matter

There are probably a great many scholarly articles written on this subject, and it would take some months of research to find and summarize them all, but I suspect that my explanation above figures somewhere in the mix.

MaroldLet me pose a question that is a little bit off topic.

Only a very little off topic. You may as well bring roles into the grouping.

the role of teacher; the role of manager; the role of secretary; the role of leader

It's not just "matter of" and "role of" that take such article-less nouns. I'm sure we could find many others.

CJ

Marold · Answer

CalifJim, I am much obliged to you for enlightening me about this thorny matter.

Thank you once more.

CalifJim · Answer

MaroldCalifJim, I am much obliged to you for enlightening me about this thorny matter.Thank you once more.

You're welcome.

Here are a few examples I found using fraze.it where there is no article between "of" and the following noun, and the noun looks countable. Something to think about.

a matter of

fact, course, scale, function, policy, debate, principle, opinion, dispute, strategy, habit, routine, public record, public concern, public policy, federal law, personal preference, life and death,

less a matter of unchanging tradition than precedent

role of

shareholder, attack dog, defending champ, party-pooper, wounded healer, detective, senior leader

choice of

destination, dessert, leader, consultant, antibiotic, apple brandy, specialty, topic, athletic director, prime minister

a kind of

shock treatment, sweet potato, imperial bodyguard, father figure, horror story, life force, chemical clock, organism, artistic statement, fortress, private club, witchcraft, conspiracy, hybrid, battle

CJ

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