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Somethingsimple Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

articles with seasons

0I saw it in several authoritative sources that either 'the' or 'zero article' is equally possible with seasons in a general sense. I.e. 01font00it's cold in winter02font00 is equivalent to 01font00it's cold in the winter02font00. 02br
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00Can anyone clarify one thing - if the meaning is the same why would you have two different grammatical constructs? 02br
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00Again as before I suspect that there might be some subtle difference which I dont know about. 02br
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00Please, can you share your comments. 05002br
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00Cheers,02br
00Al.010id1
  

Top answer

0You are right that there is no need to use an article with seasons. It is really 00 00just a matter of choice. Although using “the” does slightly stress that you mean one particular season rather than another:02br 02br 00 01font 00.

— Nick147

  • 0You are right that there is no need to use an article with seasons.
  • It is really 00 00just a matter of choice.
  • Although using “the” does slightly stress that you mean one particular season rather than another:02br 02br 00 01font 00.
  • in the winter02font 00 sounds more specific and stresses that you mean that it is the winter that is cold, rather than any other season.
  • in winter 02font 00sounds00 more general.
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8 Answers
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0You are right that there is no need to use an article with seasons. It is really 00 00just a matter of choice. Although using “the” does slightly stress that you mean one particular season rather than another:02br
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00 01font00. ..in the winter02font00 sounds more specific and stresses that you mean that it is the winte
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0But what about "a" article? May it ever be used with seasons? 01blockquote
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11b10eg12b10 A spring is coming.12br
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10Would using "a" be a mistake in the example above and in the example given by Somethingsimple?0-
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0You could say "a spring" if you indicated a particular spring or a particular type of spring: "Spring is coming. It's going to be 01i00a 02i00cold spring this year." "We had 01i00a 02i00very mild winter this year." "I remember 01i00a02i00 certain summer when I was a child...."02br
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00As to why the d
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0 Hello SS02br
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00You are correct. In his grammar book CGEL, Quirk says we can use either "winter" or "the winter" in generic sense, but he does not mention anything but that "the fall" in AmE is commonly "the fall" and that "winter" can sometimes mean "winter's climate".02br
00 (EX) The winter of 1945 was an exciting time to us. [calendar]02br
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Ruslana12cite10But what about "a" article? May it ever be used with seasons? 11blockquote
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21b20eg22b20 A spring is coming.22br
22blockquote
20Would using "a" be a mistake in the example above and in the example given by Somethingsimple?1
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0I think as far as “seasons” are concerned, chances are we see “the” in00 00front t of them more often than not.00 00I don’t know the reason either. 02br
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00Summer is my favorite time of the year. If we put “the” in front of “summer”, it sounds awkward.00 00On the other hand02br
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00 02br
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00During 0
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0Thanks, Khoff and Paco. I got it.02br
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00It seems that sometimes one should rely on intuition when choosing whether to place "the" before seasons or not. 050010id1
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0Intuition has nothing to do with it. I think the subject is too specialised, so it does not pay for anyone to sit down and specifially do research and write a book about them. 02br
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00That's why the only way is to ask people around in places like this. Lucky us. 050010id1
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