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Reegis Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Articles: The most typical symptoms of flu are fever and headache.
Hello, good people.
Please have a look at the following sentence:
The most typical symptoms of [article] flu are [article] fever and [article] headache.
According to my knowledge 'flu' is uncountable, and 'fever' and 'headache' might be either countable or uncountable. So, there should be [a/the?] zero article before 'flu', but what about 'fever' and 'headache'? Should we put 'a' before them or nothing? Also please explain why.
Please have a look at the following sentence:
The most typical symptoms of [article] flu are [article] fever and [article] headache.
According to my knowledge 'flu' is uncountable, and 'fever' and 'headache' might be either countable or uncountable. So, there should be [a/the?] zero article before 'flu', but what about 'fever' and 'headache'? Should we put 'a' before them or nothing? Also please explain why.
Top answer
Reegis According to my knowledge 'flu' is uncountable, and 'fever' and 'headache' might be either countable or uncountable. ] zero article before 'flu' Yes but, some people add "the" before flu, especially in American English. It's like the American use of "the hospital", even when not mentioning one in particular.
- Reegis According to my knowledge 'flu' is uncountable, and 'fever' and 'headache' might be either countable or uncountable.
- ] zero article before 'flu' Yes but, some people add "the" before flu, especially in American English.
- It's like the American use of "the hospital", even when not mentioning one in particular.
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5 Answers
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ReegisAccording to my knowledge 'flu' is uncountable, and 'fever' and 'headache' might be either countable or uncountable. So, there should be [a/the?] zero article before 'flu'Yes but, some people add "the" before flu, especially in American English. It's like the American use of "the hospital", even when not mentioning one in particular.
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a) Thanks, so 'flu' can be either alone or with 'the'.
b) But what about articles before 'fever' and 'headache' in this sentence?
c) Do we say 'should be zero article' or 'should be a zero article' or 'should be the zero article' (as it is the only one)?
b) But what about articles before 'fever' and 'headache' in this sentence?
c) Do we say 'should be zero article' or 'should be a zero article' or 'should be the zero article' (as it is the only one)?
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I have noticed that when there is an approved answer in a topic, then usually anyone no longer looks at this topic 
Could any
Could any
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ReegisThe most typical symptoms of flu are [article] fever and [article] headache.Use a before "fever" and "headache".
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Could you please say why you think so? I thought it over and I was inclined to use zero article there...
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