Grammatical error?

Question

Did the author make a grammatical error in this sentence?

"While (the) female membership of parliament is the highest in the world (though still far from equal), (the) male control of the corporate world is absolute."

Why is there no article before "female" and "male"?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

AnonymousWhy is there no article before "female" and "male"?

It is optional there.

AnonymousDid the author make a grammatical error in this sentence?

Not really, though 'of parliament' would be better replaced by 'in parliament', I think.

Anonymous · Answer

I'm not getting this. We always use definite articles with uncountable nouns though.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister Micawber AnonymousWhy is there no article before "female" and "male"?It is optional there.AnonymousDid the author make a grammatical error in this sentence?Not really, though 'of parliament' would be better replaced by 'in parliament', I think.

Why aren't we using the definite article though? These are uncountable nouns.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI'm not getting this. We always use definite articles with uncountable nouns though.

You misunderstand. (OK does not mean "required"; it means "optional".)

.................................... a/an ................. the
Uncountable .............. NO .................... OK
Countable .................. OK .................... OK

Plus: You must use a determiner with a singular concrete countable noun. (a, the, this, that, my, your, ...) Abstract nouns don't take determiners at all when used in generic statements. (Love is a mysterious thing.)

You can force an uncountable noun to have a slightly different meaning (which is countable) by using "a/an".
I have to buy some coffee. / Can you bring me a coffee, please?

CJ

Grammatical error?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions