Regarding uses of "articles"

Question

Have three question regarding the uses of articles. I've forgotten one so asking only the two questions now. Shall ask the other one when I remember it.

Sentence 1: "The author is editor of Newsweek magazine (or XYZ news media)".

My question 1: We often see the above sentence at the end of articles in newspapers or magazines when the author of the article happens to be an editor of news media. E.g. here http://to.ly/616P . What I never understood is that they never used the article "an" before the word editor! Why? Can you explain to me the logic of not using any article before the word editor?

Sentence 2: "He is PM of India" or "He is Gorbachev of China"

My question 2: Two questions on the sentence 2. If for some reason the article is not used before the word editor then should it not be the same case with the word PM? Why the articles "a" or "the" are used before the word PM when they are not used before the word editor? Should not the same happens with the word Gorbachev? Shouldn't it go without any article? Please answere these doubts. These articles are very problematic, really.

Thanks and regards

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

RazerHave three question regarding the uses of articles. I've forgotten one so asking only the two questions now.

This really made me laugh for some reason...!

"The author is an editor of..." = one of several editors

"The author is the editor of..." = the sole editor

"The author is editor of..." = (usually) the sole editor

Articles can be omitted in this way before titles or before the names of more elevated occupations (like editor) where there is likely to be only one such person within scope. For example:

"He is (the) Prime Minister of India."

"She was (the) Queen of England."

"He is (the) chairman of XYZ plc."

but not really "She is shop assistant at ABC Inc", for example, because "shop assistant" seems too lowly and there are likely to be many of them.

"He is Gorbachev of China" of China does not work; this is a different kind of idiom (Gorbachev is not a title or occupation), and you must say "the Gorbachev of China".

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Sentence 1: "The author is editor of Newsweek magazine (or XYZ news media)".

My question 1: We often see the above sentence at the end of articles in newspapers or magazines when the author of the article happens to be an editor of news media. E.g. here http://to.ly/616P . What I never understood is that they never used the article "an" before the word editor! Why? Can you explain to me the logic of not using any article before the word editor?

He is the editor of Newsweek. This is correct gramar. There are many editors in the world.

He is Editor of Newsweek. This is correct grammar. The word 'Editor' is used as his job title. The statement also suggests that there is only one such Editor at Newsweek.

In your example, the writer was using 'editor' as a job title, but didn't bother to capitalize it.

Sentence 2: "He is PM of India" or "He is Gorbachev of China"

My question 2: Two questions on the sentence 2. If for some reason the article is not used before the word editor then should it not be the same case with the word PM? Yes.

Why the articles "a" or "the" are used before the word PM when they are not used before the word editor?

The topic of articles can get a bit complex.

You can say 'a PM of India, if you are thinking of him in the context of all the PMs that India has ever had.

You can say 'the PM of India' if you are thinking of him ion the context of all the other PMs in the world. eg Tom is the PM of India, and Fred is the PM of Canada'.

Should not the same happens with the word Gorbachev? Shouldn't it go without any article? Please answere these doubts. These articles are very problematic, really

The sentence 'He is Gorbachev of China' seems wrong to me. It's an odd 'title'.

This is not an easy topic. Ask again if you have further questions.

Clive

Joe2012 · Answer

It was 4:30 am of the early morning yesterday and I was getting sleepy so I didn't reply to you. Thanks for your answers. My reply to your answers is coming in next  comment. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Joe2012 · Answer

Mr Wordy
Razer Have three question regarding the uses of articles. I've forgotten one so asking only the two questions now.
This really made me laugh for some reason...! [/qoute]

Sir, please don't laugh, I'm getting blush*, *blushyou know!
Mr Wordy "The author is an editor of..." = one of several editors
"The author is the editor of..." = the sole editor
"The author is editor of..." = (usually) the sole editor

Articles can be omitted in this way before titles or before the names of more elevated occupations (like editor) where there is likely to be only one such person within scope. For example:

"He is (the) Prime Minister of India."
"She was (the) Queen of England."
"He is (the) chairman of XYZ plc."

"He is Gorbachev of China" of China does not work; this is a different kind of idiom (Gorbachev is not a title or occupation), and you must say "the Gorbachev of China".

Ok. Thanks. Got for now but not sure won't get confused in the future.
Mr Wordybut not really "She is shop assistant at ABC Inc", for example, because "shop assistant" seems too lowly and there are likely to be many of them.
Yes, exactly in these types of situation I get confused. According to my understanding of English, article "a" should come before the word "shop". As you have also said "..there are likely to be many of them" so logically there is a case for using article "a" before the word shop. Isn't it?

Take this example which is simpliar to yours, and where I'm not sure I should use article "a" or not. Example: "This issue could be sanjeevani for the XYZ party". Here I'm not sure I should use article "a" before the word sanjeevani ; since sanjeevani was a very rare herbs and could be one of its kind, if it ever existed.So in these type of example how should we identify any article is needed or not?

(**Sanjeevani, according to Indian "mythologies" was a very rare magical herb which cured almost a dead guy)

Regards

Joe2012 · Answer

CliveMy question 2: Two questions on the sentence 2. If for some reason the article is not used before the word editor then should it not be the same case with the word PM? Yes.
Why the articles "a" or "the" are used before the word PM when they are not used before the word editor?

The topic of articles can get a bit complex.
You can say 'a PM of India, if you are thinking of him in the context of all the PMs that India has ever had.
You can say 'the PM of India' if you are thinking of him ion the context of all the other PMs in the world. eg Tom is the PM of India, and Fred is the PM of Canada'.

Thanks for some very helpful remarks. I got some idea about how to "differentiate" the use of articles. I mean how to select the proper article in different situation. Thanks for this.
CliveShould not the same happens with the word Gorbachev? Shouldn't it go without any article? Please answere these doubts. These articles are very problematic, really

The sentence 'He is Gorbachev of China' seems wrong to me. It's an odd 'title'.
This is not an easy topic. Ask again if you have further questions.

For now I've no further questions. Gorbochev was the best example I could imagine to explain my problem. However, I've "tried" to make another example of the samiliar type, if not the same type, and have mentioned it in my post to Mr. Wordy. Please have a lot at my reply to him.

Regards

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I guess the idea of 'He is the Gorbachev of China' means he fulfills the same role in China that Gorbachev did in Russia. That seems fine.

Clive ( 'the Clint Eastwood' of English Forums, gunning down bad grammar )

Mr Wordy · Answer

Razer
Mr Wordybut not really "She is shop assistant at ABC Inc", for example, because "shop assistant" seems too lowly and there are likely to be many of them.
Yes, exactly in these types of situation I get confused. According to my understanding of English, article "a" should come before the word "shop". As you have also said "..there are likely to be many of them" so logically there is a case for using article "a" before the word shop. Isn't it?

Correct. Here one would normally say "She is a shop assistant at ABC Inc".

RazerTake this example which is simpliar to yours, and where I'm not sure I should use article "a" or not. Example: "This issue could be sanjeevani for the XYZ party". Here I'm not sure I should use article "a" before the word sanjeevani ; since sanjeevani was a very rare herbs and could be one of its kind, if it ever existed.So in these type of example how should we identify any article is needed or not?

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the word "sanjeevani" and I'm not sure whether an article is needed. Here are some vaguely similar examples which may or may not be helpful:

"This could be a carrot to wave in front of the taxpayers" -- "carrot" (= inducement) is countable, but we don't mean any specific carrot, so we use "a".

"This was the Roman Empire of pre-Columbian America" -- "empire" is countable, and we're talking about a specific example, so we use "the".

"It was music to my ears" -- "music" is uncountable, so no article is needed.

Remember, though, that the use of articles can be highly idiomatic (non-rule-based). As soon as anyone formulates any kind of rule beyond the trivial, someone else generally comes up with a counterexample.

Mr Wordy · Answer

CliveI guess the idea of 'He is the Gorbachev of China' means he fulfills the same role in China that Gorbachev did in Russia.

Right, that's how I understand it.

CliveClive ( 'the Clint Eastwood' of English Forums, gunning down bad grammar )

!!!

.... did he correct six grammatical errors ... or was it only five ... ?

Joe2012 · Answer

Mr Wordy"This could be a carrot to wave in front of the taxpayers" -- "carrot" (= inducement) is countable, but we don't mean any specific carrot, so we use "a".
"This was the Roman Empire of pre-Columbian America" -- "empire" is countable, and we're talking about a specific example, so we use "the".
"It was music to my ears" -- "music" is uncountable, so no article is needed.
Remember, though, that the use of articles can be highly idiomatic (non-rule-based). As soon as anyone formulates any kind of rule beyond the trivial, someone else generally comes up with a counterexample.

Thanks for giving so many examples, I'm understanding it slowly, but it could still take some time for me to understand it completly. Like in this example: "And amicus curaie Salve, a/the know baiter of him..." I used article "a" in my example because there are many baiters of him (person in question) but after some time of using article "a" I start getting confusion about its correctness because I've mentioned the name(Salve) already and I've been pointing to him. So should not the article "the" come there? I'm not sure because I'm confused about it. There are the situation which confuses me.

Apropos of Sanjeevani, I'm sorry I didn't realise you won't be able to get the adjectives borrowed from local mythologies. My bad, apology. I did try my best to explain it, though. It's used here very commonly. Google can shed some more light in it.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Razer Like in this example: "And amicus curaie Salve, a/the know baiter of him..." I used article "a" in my example because there are many baiters of him (person in question) but after some time of using article "a" I start getting confusion about its correctness because I've mentioned the name(Salve) already and I've been pointing to him. So should not the article "the" come there?

You mean "curiae". Your sentence doesn't make sense as written, and I'm guessing you mean "a/the known baiter of him". I assume "Salve" is someone's name. If Salve is one of many baiters, or if it's unknown whether there are any others, then you can use "a". However, you can also use "the" in these cases if the fact that there are (or may be) others is unimportant and Salve is the only one of interest in this context.

Regarding uses of "articles"

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