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Pructus Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Back without "the"
Hello....
When back is used as a noun, doesn't it have to be used with "the"?
Below are examples that I searched in the COCA.
Here back is being used as a noun but without "the" or "a".
***********
Place right hand on back of chair for balance.
Smash cup chickpeas with back of a fork to form paste.
Tommy Whitehead leapt up at back of the room.
When back is used as a noun, doesn't it have to be used with "the"?
Below are examples that I searched in the COCA.
Here back is being used as a noun but without "the" or "a".
***********
Place right hand on back of chair for balance.
Smash cup chickpeas with back of a fork to form paste.
Tommy Whitehead leapt up at back of the room.
Top answer
Place right hand on back of chair for balance. Tommy Whitehead leapt up at back of the room. I won't go as far as disagreeing with COCA, but I would say common ears may find the absence of "the" in these sentences a bit unusual.
- Place right hand on back of chair for balance.
- Tommy Whitehead leapt up at back of the room.
- I won't go as far as disagreeing with COCA, but I would say common ears may find the absence of "the" in these sentences a bit unusual.
- Right off the top of my head, this would be commonly uttered: There is an electrical outlet in THE back of the room.
- Three great ways to use the back of your business card ...
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11 Answers
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pructusBelow is a table that I searched in the COCA.Here back is being used as a noun but without "the" or "a".Place right hand on back of chair for balance. Smash cup chickpeas with back of a fork to form paste.Tommy Whitehead leapt up at back of the room.I won't go as far as disagreeing with COCA, but I would say common ears may find the absence of "the" in
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Place right hand on back of chair for balance. This sounds like a written instruction, in abbreviated form.
If you said it to someone, you'd typically say
eg Place your right hand on the back of a chair for balance.
Smash cup chickpeas with back of a fork to
If you said it to someone, you'd typically say
eg Place your right hand on the back of a chair for balance.
Smash cup chickpeas with back of a fork to
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Hi Barb,
And in AmE, in back of the room means behind the room, I think?
And in AmE, in back of the room means behind the room, I think?
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Oh, I see what you mean.
He sat (or jumped up) in/at the back of the room. - He was in the room, all the way at the back.
It's harder to picture something "behind" a room (maybe if you're looking at an architectural plan?) but we might say something like "There's a shed in back of the house" or "There's a Dumpster in back of the restaurant in the alley."
(I probably
He sat (or jumped up) in/at the back of the room. - He was in the room, all the way at the back.
It's harder to picture something "behind" a room (maybe if you're looking at an architectural plan?) but we might say something like "There's a shed in back of the house" or "There's a Dumpster in back of the restaurant in the alley."
(I probably
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Thanks so much, BarbaraPA!!
It's a little confusing for a non-native...
But I guess that it's almost like....
"in the back of the room" means "inside the room, in some place", and "in back of the room" means "outside the room, in some place".
It's a little confusing for a non-native...
But I guess that it's almost like....
"in the back of the room" means "inside the room, in some place", and "in back of the room" means "outside the room, in some place".
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AnonymousI won't go as far as disagreeing with COCAThe Corpus of Contemporary American English i not really something one can agree or disagree with. It is a 450-million-word corpus that allows us to see how words and phrases have actually be used by modern speakers and writers. No judgement is passed on whether things are grammatical or not, though it is rea
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