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Marold Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Confusion about the right usage of articles
1) Let me get back to the basics as I sometimes struggle to get a firm understanding of articles used in various cases.
"I was studying at a secondary school/gymnasium."
or
"I was studying at secondary school/gymnasium."
2) What about this? Does this word act as uncountable or countable here?
"Is this a common usage of this noun?"
or
"Is this common usage of this noun?"
Thanks a lot in advance.
"I was studying at a secondary school/gymnasium."
or
"I was studying at secondary school/gymnasium."
2) What about this? Does this word act as uncountable or countable here?
"Is this a common usage of this noun?"
or
"Is this common usage of this noun?"
Thanks a lot in advance.
Top answer
1. With "secondary school", the article is optional. Omitting it makes school seem more of an abstract concept.
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- With "secondary school", the article is optional.
- Omitting it makes school seem more of an abstract concept.
- It is possible to omit the article because "at school" is a special idiomatic phrase.
- Similar examples are "at home", "at church" or "at work".
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1 Answers
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1. With "secondary school", the article is optional. Omitting it makes school seem more of an abstract concept. It is possible to omit the article because "at school" is a special idiomatic phrase. Similar examples are "at home", "at church" or "at work". There is no phrase "at gymnasium", so with "gymnasium" an article (or other determiner) is required.
Note that in English-speaking coun
Note that in English-speaking coun
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