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DorisPao Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
The + pl. noun + of
Hi there!
The company lied to the buyers of its diesel vehicles.
Sometimes I see the "the" dropped before plural nouns followed by "of". My teacher says this has little to do with "of". He says that the definite article is dropped only when you don't think of any specific members.
E.g.:
Members of the cabinet are required to disclose their assets.
Any/some/all - unspecified - cabinet members
Buyers of automobiles should always consider auto insurance.
Any/some/all - unspecified - auto buyers.
But:
The company lied to the buyers of its diesel vehicles.
Meaning everyone who bought the company's diesel vehicles = the buyers are a defined group.
The bodies of the victims were flown in.
Meaning all the bodies of all the victims were flown in = bodies are a definite group.
Do you agree with this? If not, could you please elaborate?
Thanks!
The company lied to the buyers of its diesel vehicles.
Sometimes I see the "the" dropped before plural nouns followed by "of". My teacher says this has little to do with "of". He says that the definite article is dropped only when you don't think of any specific members.
E.g.:
Members of the cabinet are required to disclose their assets.
Any/some/all - unspecified - cabinet members
Buyers of automobiles should always consider auto insurance.
Any/some/all - unspecified - auto buyers.
But:
The company lied to the buyers of its diesel vehicles.
Meaning everyone who bought the company's diesel vehicles = the buyers are a defined group.
The bodies of the victims were flown in.
Meaning all the bodies of all the victims were flown in = bodies are a definite group.
Do you agree with this? If not, could you please elaborate?
Thanks!
Top answer
S. And would it be wrong to write "The company lied to buyers of its diesel vehicles" with no article before "buyers"?
- S.
- And would it be wrong to write "The company lied to buyers of its diesel vehicles" with no article before "buyers"?
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3 Answers
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P.S. And would it be wrong to write "The company lied to buyers of its diesel vehicles" with no article before "buyers"?
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The sentence, "The company lied to the buyers of its diesel vehicles.", is correct.
The sentence, "The company lied to buyers of its diesel vehicles.", is also correct.
There are many situations where the definite (or indefinite) article is left out, or put in, and the handful of general rules about articles in grammar books cannot cover every possible situation. These various
The sentence, "The company lied to buyers of its diesel vehicles.", is also correct.
There are many situations where the definite (or indefinite) article is left out, or put in, and the handful of general rules about articles in grammar books cannot cover every possible situation. These various
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