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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Article needed here?

Sentence: Susan Rice is part of Obama's core team.

Question: Situation like these makes me very confuse regarding the use of articles. E.g., should the article "a" be used before the word part in the sentence? As in, "is a part of".

Reason of asking this is because if you Google books for the above "types" of sentence constructions, you will find that the article "a" has been omitted in 95% of books. I fail to understand the logic why. So please tell me what is correct, with explanation. Emotion: smile

Thanks
  

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No reply! Is this question so difficult.

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17 Answers
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No reply! Is this question so difficult.
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Unless there is an adjective before 'part, we normally omit 'a':

Part of the field was under water.
A large part of the field was under water.

That's just the way it is with 'part'.
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For me, it's difficult. Emotion: smile

There's an expression "part and parcel." Susan Rice is part and parcel of Obama's core team.
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Anonymous Is this question so difficult.
Yes. Emotion: embarrassed
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Anonymousshould the article "a" be used before the word part in the sentence?
No. As mentioned above, the word "part" has an unusual grammar.

CJ
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Thanks for all the replies. It helped me understand the rule which I was not aware of. So, in one line, it is "grammatically incorrect" to use the article a with the word part in the above types of constructions. Right?
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AnonymousSo, in one line, it is "grammatically incorrect" to use the article a with the word part in the above types of constructions. Right?
Wrong. It's just that it is far more common not to use the article.
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Hi,

I'd say that it is basically idiomatic. We say it that way because we say it that way.
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Clive The mechanic ordered a new part for my car.
I don't think that 'part' as it is used here ([countable] http://www.macmillandictionary.com/search/american/direct/?q=one
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AnonymousThanks for all the replies.
You're welcome.

Note also, there is no article in the expressions "to take part (in an activity)" and "in part" (partially).

CJ
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