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Tomasd Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
(The) Prussian King
Hi,
Who was Frederick the Great?
Frederick the Great was the/a Prussian king.
On the one hand, there couldn't have been more than one Prussian king at the time so I lean toward the definite article. On the other hand, there is no time period attached to the statement. There were a lot of Prussian kings throughout history. So maybe "a Prussian king"? Or does it not matter if the period isn't mentioned? Frederick the Great was the Prussian king (at the time of mention, whatever it is, even if such time is not mentioned).
Also, I see something like "Ronald Reagan was US President". Probably because it's a title, there is no article. Would it be okay to say:
"Frederick the Great was Prussian King".
Thank you!!
Who was Frederick the Great?
Frederick the Great was the/a Prussian king.
On the one hand, there couldn't have been more than one Prussian king at the time so I lean toward the definite article. On the other hand, there is no time period attached to the statement. There were a lot of Prussian kings throughout history. So maybe "a Prussian king"? Or does it not matter if the period isn't mentioned? Frederick the Great was the Prussian king (at the time of mention, whatever it is, even if such time is not mentioned).
Also, I see something like "Ronald Reagan was US President". Probably because it's a title, there is no article. Would it be okay to say:
"Frederick the Great was Prussian King".
Thank you!!
Top answer
You do need an article. Frederick the Great was Prussian King. If you use "a," it would be rather timeless in nature, meaning he was one of many Prussian kings.
- You do need an article.
- Frederick the Great was Prussian King.
- If you use "a," it would be rather timeless in nature, meaning he was one of many Prussian kings.
- If you use "the," you would include a time frame.
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15 Answers
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You do need an article. Frederick the Great was Prussian King.
If you use "a," it would be rather timeless in nature, meaning he was one of many Prussian kings.
If you use "the," you would include a time frame.
If you use "a," it would be rather timeless in nature, meaning he was one of many Prussian kings.
If you use "the," you would include a time frame.
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EnglishmavenYou do need an article. Frederick the Great was Prussian King.If you use "a," it would be rather timeless in nature, meaning he was one of many Prussian kings.If you use "the," you would include a time frame.Thank you. So in my example:
"Who was Frederick the Great?"
"He was __ Prussian king."
"Who was Ronald Reagan?"
"He was
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tomasdFrederick the Great was~ ... was one of the Prussian kings throughout historythe/a Prussian king.
tomasdRonald Reagan was a US President.It sounds wrong to me without "a".
Whenever you have a single example taken from
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CalifJim, I hear you loud and clear. Thank you.
My only problem is with your US President explanation. I did some more research online. Look at these examples (from books through Google Books):
Bill Clinton visited it in 2000 when he was US President.
When George W. Bush was US President, it was easy to hate America . . .
Iranians well remember that when Eisen
My only problem is with your US President explanation. I did some more research online. Look at these examples (from books through Google Books):
Bill Clinton visited it in 2000 when he was US President.
When George W. Bush was US President, it was easy to hate America . . .
Iranians well remember that when Eisen
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tomasdAm I missing something?I don't know!
The last example has "elected". That verb is followed by a title (office), so the article is dropped. elected mayor, elected governor, elected dog-catcher The verb "appointed" works the same way.
The others are all in when-clauses, so we might assume that the intention is "when [person]
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CalifJimI don't know! The last example has "elected". That verb is followed by a title (office), so the article is dropped. elected mayor, elected governor, elected dog-catcher The verb "appointed" works the same way.The others are all in when-clauses, so we might assume that the intention is "when [person] held the office of [title]". These are not the simple claim that
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And you can always make things more difficult by asking Who was 'Der Alte Fritz'? (his nickname) 
CJ
CJ
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CalifJimAnd you can always make things more difficult by asking Who was 'Der Alte Fritz'? (his nickname) CJJa, of course, but life is already difficult enough!
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tomasd(I assume you are okay with "was the president of the US" and "was the king of Prussia" as opposed to "was a president of the US" and "was a king of Prussia" for my original question "Who was...?").It doesn't thrill me, but it's OK.
CJ
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CalifJim tomasd(I assume you are okay with "was the president of the US" and "was the king of Prussia" as opposed to "was a president of the US" and "was a king of Prussia" for my original question "Who was...?").It doesn't thrill me, but it's OK.CJOK, thank you very much! Appreciate your help as always!
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