Third person and zero article?

Question

Hello.There are many ways to describe oneself. For example, I can use first person and it is straightforward:1) I am a mathematician who...But sometimes it is written in third person:2a) A mathematician who...2b) The mathematician who...2c) Mathematician who...And of course it is context that makes it clear who we are talking about (for example one's description on Linkedin portal).My question is - which sentence from the above (2a-2c) is correct? Can we use the zero article this way or maybe it is better to use the definite or indefinite article?--------------------------------By the way, should I say "first person" or "the first person"?I read about this topic here:http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-personAnd for example I can see the two sentences:- You probably know what it means to write in the first person, but you may not be as confident about using the second- or third-person point of view.- In grammatical terms, first person, second person, and third person refer to personal pronouns.Does anyone know why we have 'the' in the first sentence, but not in the second one?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

This is a complete sentence: "I am the mathematician who solved Fermat's Last Theorem."

The following are fragments, noun phrases, or bullet points, not complete sentences. On CVs, people often write in fragments.

2a) A mathematician who...
2b) The mathematician who... (You are unique in the entire history of the planet Earth)
2c) Mathematician who... (Incorrect)

Reegis- You probably know what it means to write in the first person, but you may not be as confident about using the second- or third-person point of view.

in the first person = in the writing style of using first-person pronouns consistently. The text seems as if the writer is personally in the situation described in the story.

To me, "the" is optional. It is the writer's choice.

Reegis- In grammatical terms, first person, second person, and third person refer to personal pronouns.

First person pronouns are I, my, mine, we, us and our.
Second person pronouns are you, your, yours.

"first person" is being defined as a grammatical term. When we make definitions, we do not use an article.

e.g.
Piano: a string and percussion musical instrument with keys that activate a mechanism that causes a hammer to strike a string.

Reegis · Answer

AlpheccaStars2a) A mathematician who...2b) The mathematician who... (You are unique in the entire history of the planet Earth)2c) Mathematician who... (Incorrect)

2c is incorrect so it is out, also I am neither Euler nor Gauss so also 2b is out and the winner is 2a

So, please confirm to double check - is it correct to write about oneself along these lines on some portal like LinkedIn (indefinite article, third person):
"A mathematician who likes algebra and the probability calculus. Interested in physics, biology and programming. (...) Personally, a huge fan of rock music."
?

Thanks a lot for your thorough explanation!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

A mathematician who likes algebra and ~~the~~ probability calculus.
Interested in physics, biology and programming.

They are not parallel structures, so the style is quite problematic. When you do bullet points, the preferred professional style is to have parallel structures. You have made a noun phrase and a non-finite clause.

Reegis · Answer

I had no idea there is such a thing like parallel structures... But I googled it a little bit:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/01/
And I must say it makes sense and looks nice:) The only question might be to what degree one should follow a given pattern. In my example it could be like this:

A mathematician who:

likes algebra and probability calculus;
- is interested in physics, biology and programming;
- enjoys rock music.

Do you think it looks good?

If I wanted to make it 'more parallel' I could have the same number of items in each bullet point:

A mathematician who:

enjoys rock and dance;

likes algebra and calculus;
- is interested in physics and biology.

But it might limit me and not always look natural... But it might be a matter of taste

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The first looks fine. It contains all predicates.

You don't have to go further. Each bullet point should be the same structure. It's not required, or sensible that they should be the same length.

Remember this point of style when you make Powerpoint presentations.

Reegis · Answer

I see

Let me ask two final questions:
2) Is this form (in my example above) appropriate for websites like Linkedin?
1) When it comes to grammar, is it completely correct?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Reegis2) Is this form (in my example above) appropriate for websites like Linkedin?

Look at some of the other profiles. If many use this format, then I suppose it's appropriate.

Reegis1) When it comes to grammar, is it completely correct?

Yes. Writing bullet points is more a question of style than grammar. Of course you need subject-verb matching, proper capitalization and punctuation, proper spelling and word order, etc. Beyond that, it is a matter of style and style guides. You can google for other advice, but here is a good reference.

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2005/12/the_best_of_bul.html

Reegis · Answer

Thank you so much AlpheccaStarts. I am very grateful for your help. If I can repay you for your kindness, just let me know

Reegis · Answer

Let me get back to this topic...

I went over some Linkedin profiles and noticed that people (including native speakers) often don't use articles in context that was discussed earlier. Just as an example:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardslawrence

"Experienced software developer, agile coach, and technical leader."

Do you see any explanation of this? Why no articles here?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

ReegisDo you see any explanation of this?

In a compound noun, only the first article is necessary.
In lists of qualifications, the subject-verb (I am...) is frequently omitted.
In the two lists below, the second sounds quite repetitive.

[ I am an ]

experienced software developer,
agile coach, and
technical leader.

[ I am ]

an experienced software developer,
an agile coach, and
a technical leader.

Third person and zero article?

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