0
Veronica 222 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Indefenite article vs Zero article
Please, dear Teachers help me!!!
I don't understand one thing.
I read some rules in my school grammar book and found one incongruity:
1) In certain cases nouns take the defenite article. It happens when the noun in apposition refers to a famous or well-known person:
Gorbachev, the political leader of the USSR, started the process...
2) If nouns in apposition denote a position (rank, post) which is, as a rule, unique and can be occupied by one person at a time, they are used without any article. Here belong such nouns as:
king-queen
colonel-captain
LEADER-head, etc.
E.g: Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Britain, was the first woman to take this post.
But! There is one problem I can't understand: why Gobachev (THE political LEADER) was used with an article but Margeret Thatcher (Prime Minister of Britain) wasn't????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't understand one thing.
I read some rules in my school grammar book and found one incongruity:
1) In certain cases nouns take the defenite article. It happens when the noun in apposition refers to a famous or well-known person:
Gorbachev, the political leader of the USSR, started the process...
2) If nouns in apposition denote a position (rank, post) which is, as a rule, unique and can be occupied by one person at a time, they are used without any article. Here belong such nouns as:
king-queen
colonel-captain
LEADER-head, etc.
E.g: Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Britain, was the first woman to take this post.
But! There is one problem I can't understand: why Gobachev (THE political LEADER) was used with an article but Margeret Thatcher (Prime Minister of Britain) wasn't????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Top answer
1) In certain cases nouns take the definite article. It happens when the noun in apposition refers to a famous or well-known person: Gorbachev, the political leader of the USSR, started the process... There are many many political leaders in any government.
- 1) In certain cases nouns take the definite article.
- It happens when the noun in apposition refers to a famous or well-known person: Gorbachev, the political leader of the USSR, started the process...
- There are many many political leaders in any government.
- 2) If nouns in apposition denote a position (rank, post) which is, as a rule, unique and can be occupied by one person at a time , they are used without any article .
- Here belong such nouns as: king-queen colonel-captain LEADER-head, etc.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
1) In certain cases nouns take the definite article. It happens when the noun in apposition refers to a famous or well-known person:
Gorbachev, the political leader of the USSR, started the process...
There are many many political leaders in any government.
2) If nouns in apposition denote a position (rank, post) which is, as a rule, unique and can be occupie
Gorbachev, the political leader of the USSR, started the process...
There are many many political leaders in any government.
2) If nouns in apposition denote a position (rank, post) which is, as a rule, unique and can be occupie
00
The more the phrase is an ordinary English descriptive phrase, the greater the tendency to use articles according to the usual grammatical requirements. The more the phrase is seen as a title, the less the tendency to use any articles. However, there is also a style in which articles are dropped in descriptive parenthetical phrases. For example, "Mr Smith, father of two, said..."
0
Related Questions