Definite or zero article in a definition of Far East or Middle East?

Question

Hello.Please have a look at 3 pages:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_EastNear East is a geographical term that...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_EastThe Middle East is a transcontinental region...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_EastThe Far East is an alternate geographical term...Why the first one doesn't have 'the' but the second and third have it? Is it correct?I was told that at the beginning of definitions we do not use articles, but I am not sure if this rule applies here...

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

ReegisWhy the first one doesn't have 'the' but the second and third have it?

You need does between "Why" and "the".

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisWhy doesn't the first one ~~doesn't~~ have 'the', but the second and third have it?

It's just one of those random inconsistencies that life is full of. I would have used "The" for all three.

CJ

Reegis · Answer

I have a tendency to say questions in the indicative (without inversion). Perhaps not the best habit... During everyday conversations it is not a problem since my intonation makes it unambiguously a question.
Do native speakers often say things this way (without inversion) in colloquial English?

CalifJim It's just one of those random inconsistencies that life is full of. I would have used "The" for all three.

Thanks. Do I understand you correctly that they should have 'the' because it is part of their name (like the Equator, the North Pole or the Atlantic)?

By the way, with what article should we define regular items? I was pretty sure that we should use zero article but here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle

A triangle is a polygon with three edges...
It doesn't seem so...

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisDo native speakers often say things this way (without inversion) in colloquial English?

No. It has a distinctly "foreign" ring to it.

ReegisBy the way, with what article should we define regular items?

There is nothing special about a definition. It follows the same conventions as any other kind of sentence.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisDo I understand you correctly that they should have 'the' because it is part of their name (like the Equator, the North Pole or the Atlantic)?

Right.

CJ

Muhammad Ubaid · Answer

well it depend on you how much you are serious with your ideas and opinions in conversation, because when we speak which mean we are
describing ourself .
regards

Reegis · Answer

CalifJimNo. It has a distinctly "foreign" ring to it.

Good to know then:)

CalifJimRight.

Thanks.

CalifJimThere is nothing special about a definition. It follows the same conventions as any other kind of sentence.

Hmmm, I remember that I was told to not use articles when making definitions of the given item. Here:

Is an example:
Piano: a string and percussion musical instrument with keys that activate a mechanism that causes a hammer to strike a string.
'Piano' is without 'a'...

Maybe it depends on how exactly we create our expression (sentence or not):

1a) A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices.
2a) A piano is a string and percussion musical instrument with keys that activate a mechanism that causes a hammer to strike a string.

1b) Triangle: a polygon with three edges and three vertices.
2b) Piano: a string and percussion musical instrument with keys that activate a mechanism that causes a hammer to strike a string.

Am I going in the right direction with my reasoning?

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisI was told to not use articles when making definitions of the given item.

That's a dictionary definition, or something that goes in a glossary of terminology in the appendices of a book. The reason for dropping the articles is to facilitate the organization of words alphabetically in written text.

In a full sentence definition it's

A piano is a ....

If Wiki were a standard hard-copy kind of dictionary, the discrepancy you noticed would not have occurred, but as items are accessed differently in an online environment, nobody (but you) noticed the difference in the use of "the" with those geographical names.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

Reegisit depends on how exactly we create

Yes. That's my point exactly in my previous post.

CJ

Reegis · Answer

CalifJimIf Wiki were a standard hard-copy kind of dictionary, the discrepancy you noticed would not have occurred,

I see you used here a mixed conditional, and the one that was the least intuitive for me. Now I can remember it better since your sentence is intuitive:)

CalifJim Yes. That's my point exactly in my previous post.CJ

Now crystal clear. Thanks!

Definite or zero article in a definition of Far East or Middle East?

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