The dictionary

Question

From: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=exfluence

-I believe urban dictionary will have a large exfluence on the development of language

Question one: Must there be THE before URBAN? I just think, short form or full forum, there must be articles before DICTIONARY.

1. A new DNB, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was published in print and online in 2004.
2. Please take our OALD user survey and enter our prize draw to win a copy of OALD.

Question two: in #1, can THE be elided?

Question three: in #2, must THE be used before the second OALD?

Enoon · Accepted Answer

Johnson13Question one: Must there be THE before URBAN? I just think, short form or full forum, there must be articles before DICTIONARY.

You are looking at a sentence written by who-knows-who internet child, using no punctuation or capitalization and misusing the very word it is supposed to illustrate, and you want to know about the article? OK, the article is missing because the writer construed "Urban Dictionary" the same way as "Wikipedia", as a website. If the Urban Dictionary was a real dictionary, it would need the article.

Johnson13Question two: in #1, can THE be elided?

No.

Johnson13Question three: in #2, must THE be used before the second OALD?

I would have. I suppose they think we pronounce the acronym.

A Cornish Pasty · Answer

Johnson13Question three: in #2, must THE be used before the second OALD?

OALD is being used as an adjective to describe the noun "survey". It's not just any survey, it's their OALD user survey.

Enoon · Answer

A Cornish Pasty Johnson13Question three: in #2, must THE be used before the second OALD?OALD is being used as an adjective to describe the noun "survey". It's not just any survey, it's their OALD user survey.

He was asking about the other one.

Johnson13 · Answer

Thank you, enoon.

In English grammar, before your answer, I thought the THE in appositive phrases could be elided. For question two, if THE before OXFORD cannot be omitted, then am I correct in saying THE can be omitted only in addresses and organization names?:

eg Please come to get back your assigment on 2/F, Johnson Building.

(If in complete sentences like I went to the Johnson Building., THE is not omittable; am I correct?)

eg Student help group, Yaohing Club, tells students to be realistic about which university courses to apply to.

(I picked up this sentence in a subtitled news programme; by the way, I just think the commas must be omitted, otherwise it's ungrammatical, but I'm not sure about the omission of THE)

Enoon · Answer

Johnson13In English grammar, before your answer, I thought the THE in appositive phrases could be elided. For question two, if THE before OXFORD cannot be omitted, then am I correct in saying THE can be omitted only in addresses and organization names?:

I don't believe that there is any rule that will tell you when to use the article. I am not a teacher, though. I guess that the article is often optional in names of companies when the word "company" or "corporation" or the like is there, as in, "Florida's largest employer, (the) Walt Disney Company, has announced that ...."

Johnson13eg Please come to get back your assigment at 2/F, Johnson Building. (If in complete sentences like "I went to the Johnson Building", THE is not omittable; am I correct?)

I would only use the article in the address if it was an integral part of the name; it would be wrong in your example. The article is necessary in your complete sentence.

Johnson13eg Student help group, Yaohing Club, tells students to be realistic about which university courses to apply to.(I picked up this sentence in a subtitled news programme; by the way, I just think the commas must be omitted, otherwise it's ungrammatical, but I'm not sure about the omission of THE)

I agree about the commas, but this sentence is not useful here because it is in headline style, in which articles are always dropped whenever to do so would not destroy the meaning, whether they are necessary grammatically or not. In regular prose, I would make that, "The student help group the Yaohing Club tells students to be realistic about which university courses to apply to."

Johnson13 · Answer

Thank you, enoon.

But don't we always use ON for FLOOR? Could you tell me the difference between that and this:

-Her office is on the second floor.

Enoon · Answer

Johnson13Thank you, enoon.But don't we always use ON for FLOOR? Could you tell me the difference between that and this:-Her office is on the second floor.

Ah. I didn't know what "2/F" was supposed to signify. I thought it was part of some address. Nobody would read "on 2/F" as "on the second floor". That makes the original sentence, "Please come to the second floor of the Johnson Building to get back your assignment ." You don't "come on" that way. With "on": "You can get your assignment back at my office on the second floor of the Johnson Building."

Johnson13 · Answer

Thank you, enoon.

1. Is ' 2/F' etc entirely non-existent or its use confined to a corner of a piece of paper in letter writing?

2.Part of a conversation: -'A sergeant, sir, Royal Marine Light Infantry, sir'

According to 'THE not omittable even in apposition', shouldn't there be THE before ROYAL?

Enoon · Answer

Johnson131. Is ' 2/F' etc entirely non-existent or its use confined to a corner of a piece of paper in letter writing?

I don't know. I suppose it might be current in some arena, like maybe real estate advertising, but in general writing it is indecipherable.

Johnson132.Part of a conversation: -'A sergeant, sir, Royal Marine Light Infantry, sir'

I would punctuate that, "A sergeant, Sir! Royal Marine Light Infantry, Sir!" More like an afterthought than apposition. It's in the truncated, spare style demanded when addressing a superior officer. You don't want to be wasting your Captain's time or insulting his intelligence with fussy grammar. Just the facts, and spit them out, Corporal! I CAN"T HEAR YOU!!!

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