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Victork Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
"The" before uncountable nouns
Hello!
John is the man responsible for (the) garbage [in our building].
John is the man responsible for (the) plumbing [in our building].
My English instructor told me that both garbage and plumbing are uncountable and therefore do not take the definite article. However, as we are limiting them to only one building (our building), it is customary to use the definite article.
However! The instructor added that, as long as it is clear that we are referring to our building (for example, from the context or previous reference), it is grammatically correct to omit the article. So, it's up to me.
So:
John is the man responsible for (the) garbage.
John is the man responsible for (the) plumbing.
Is this correct, what he said?
I would appreciate if you could explain how this works. Thank you for your time.
Vic
John is the man responsible for (the) garbage [in our building].
John is the man responsible for (the) plumbing [in our building].
My English instructor told me that both garbage and plumbing are uncountable and therefore do not take the definite article. However, as we are limiting them to only one building (our building), it is customary to use the definite article.
However! The instructor added that, as long as it is clear that we are referring to our building (for example, from the context or previous reference), it is grammatically correct to omit the article. So, it's up to me.
So:
John is the man responsible for (the) garbage.
John is the man responsible for (the) plumbing.
Is this correct, what he said?
I would appreciate if you could explain how this works. Thank you for your time.
Vic
Top answer
, they can take the article, as you go on to explain. Otherwise I agree with what you say. "the garbage" / "the plumbing" are more specific than "garbage" / "plumbing".
- , they can take the article, as you go on to explain.
- Otherwise I agree with what you say.
- "the garbage" / "the plumbing" are more specific than "garbage" / "plumbing".
- They refer to some specific garbage or to a specific plumbing installation.
- However, if the context already makes the reference specific, there may not be a big difference.
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4 Answers
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victorkMy English instructor told me that both garbage and plumbing are uncountable and therefore do not take the definite article"do not need" would be more accurate than "do not take" -- i.e., they can take the article, as you go on to explain.
Otherwise I agree with what you say. "the garbage" / "the plumbing" are more specific than "garbag
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GPY,
Thanks for coming through. When you say "there may not be a big difference", I understand that either one is correct, right? I just want to make sure.
Thanks for coming through. When you say "there may not be a big difference", I understand that either one is correct, right? I just want to make sure.
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victorkGPY,Thanks for coming through. When you say "there may not be a big difference", I understand that either one is correct, right? I just want to make sure.This may be correct in cases where "garbage" or "plumbing" are made specific by modification, like your examples with "... in the building". However, I would give a general caution that the use of art
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