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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

(The) real estate prices

Hi,

Manhattan is known for its skyline. It is also known for high real estate prices, which make owning property unaffordable in the area. What drives high real estate prices there?

Why is there no definite article before "high real estate prices" in the last sentence? The group has already been defined earlier, right? Or is it because it's still on a general level?

Would it be correct to insert the article in this case? Thank you.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Why is there no definite article before "high real estate prices" in the last sentence? The group has already been defined earlier, right? Not in the passage you quoted.

— CalifJim

  • Anonymous Why is there no definite article before "high real estate prices" in the last sentence?
  • The group has already been defined earlier, right?
  • Not in the passage you quoted.
  • There is no group.
  • Only "Manhattan" and "skyline" have been mentioned, and neither of those can be called groups.
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6 Answers
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AnonymousWhy is there no definite article before "high real estate prices" in the last sentence? The group has already been defined earlier, right?
Not in the passage you quoted. There is no group. Only "Manhattan" and "skyline" have been mentioned, and neither of those can be called groups. The use of "the" can only be sanctioned by a previous definition o
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Putting in the definite article in the second sentence would be grammatical, but would sound heavy-handed. This is more of a question of sentence rhythm than anything else. It just sounds better without the article. The extra syllable provided by an article would throw the rhythm of the sentence off.
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Anonymoussentence rhythm
So the same sentence with "its" should sound wrong to you as well.

CJ
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CalifJim,

I think you may have misunderstood! I probably didn't explain well.

Manhattan is known for its skyline. It is also known for high real estate prices, which make owning property unaffordable in the area. What drives high real estate prices there?

Sentence 1: It is also known for high real estate prices
Sentence 2: What drives
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AnonymousWhat drives high real estate prices there?
There's no need for 'the'. It's OK to use 'the', but I think it's better without it. You don't have to use 'the' just because the idea has been mentioned earlier. You can, but you don't have to.

CJ
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CalifJimThere's no need for 'the'. It's OK to use 'the', but I think it's better without it. You don't have to use 'the' just because the idea has been mentioned earlier. You can, but you don't have to.
Thank you, that was my feeling as well. Thank you.
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