On an envelope

Question

Can I say,(a) We have to write an address on the envelope.(b) He writes the address on an / the envelope. (c) She writes an address on an / the envelope.(d) She writes Peter's address on an envelope.

Yankee · Accepted Answer

Hi VT

I would like to preface my comments about your sentences by reminding you that some sentences are possible to say, but only in a very limited number of contexts. Many of the sentences you post are grammatically acceptable, but may not sound natural or be grammatically appropriate in many (or even most) contexts. Some of the grammatically correct sentences you post sound quite awkward out of context.

That said, all of your sentences are possible to say in the right context. Not only is the choice of verb tense very context dependent, but the choice of the articles a, an, and the is also extremely context dependent. Sometimes more than one sentence is needed in order to judge whether you should use a definite or an indefinite article in a particular sentence.

Vincent Teo · Answer

Thanks your comments, so my sentences is still consider correct?

(a) We have to write an address on the envelope.

(b) He writes the address on an / the envelope.

(c) She writes an address on an / the envelope.

(d) She writes Peter's address on an envelope.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Vincent Teo
Thanks your comments, so my sentences is still consider correct?

(a) We have to write an address on the envelope.

(b) He writes the address on an / the envelope.

(c) She writes an address on an / the envelope.

(d) She writes Peter's address on an envelope.

They are all possible, but I agree with Yankee's comments about the importance of knowing the context.

For example, the use of the simple present tense, "writes", is grammatically fine, but I find it hard to imagine a situation when I would actually say, for example, "He writes the address on the envelope".* It would be "He wrote..." or "He's writing..." or "He's written...".

* Edit: There's an exception to this (albeit not a very common one in this case) which didn't occur to me. This is when you're telling about someone's habitual activity: "What does he do after that?" "He writes the address on the envelope."

The present tense can be used in a narrative (story), but it's a style that's usually only used to create a special effect. At your level of English it risks making your writing seem childish. It's best to use the past tense for narratives (stories).

Second point. Sometimes it seems as if you are treating every combination of words as a separate case that has to be learned individually, and not paying enough attention to the general rules about forming sentences.

For example, if you know that "He writes an address on an envelope" is correct then you should be able to see that "She writes an address on an envelope" is also correct. Similarly, if you know that "Peter's address" is a correct way of saying "the address of Peter" then you should be able to see that "She writes Peter's address on an envelope" is correct.

On an envelope

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