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Rotter Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Generic use

1.I used to listen to radio.

    1. 2. I used to listen to the radio.
The first one is correct because the word radio is used in a generic sense.

What is the meaning of generic sense?
  

Top answer

Hi, I think the writer means ' in a general sense'. Most people would say#2. Clive

— Clive

  • Hi, I think the writer means ' in a general sense'.
  • Most people would say#2.
  • Clive
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6 Answers
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Hi,

I think the writer means ' in a general sense'.

Most people would say#2.

Clive
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1. and 2. are both correct and mean approximately the same thing. However, 1. is unusual usage today. This is the way people talked a hundred years ago, when radio was the only thing on the airwaves you could listen to. So it would be said without the article. Today there are a lot of things you can listen to besides the radio, and so you'd use the article today.
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I thank Clive and Anonymous for the replies.

I have learnt the 2nd sentence.

Well, now it is old.

However, we say, even today, I watched the program on TV.

We don't say I watched the program on the TV.

Do you say I watched the pr
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Hi,

I watched the program on TV is idiomatic.

I heard the program on radio is not idiomatic.

Sometimes, we just say things because we like to say them that way.
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Clive

Your answer is interesting because you claim that the these things are idiomatic.

I have never heard this.

I have learnt the following:

When it comes to the programs we would use 'on TV'.

When it comes to the device itself we would use the article.

Do you agree?
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Hi,

Clive

Your answer is interesting because you claim that the these things are idiomatic.

I have never heard this.

I have learnt the following:

When it comes to the programs we would use 'on TV'. Yes, although I would say 'when it com
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