0
Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

use of A/AN

Hi,

I can't get my hear around this..i know that i should be looking whether a noun is countable or not and whether it is a singular or plural but there are some sentences that are correct and are not written with these rules. For example: Joe goes everywhere by bike (not a bike) or i brush my teeth with toothbrush (not a toothbrush) but i need to say I use a toothbrush to brush my teeth.

Can anyone explain to me please why we don't use a in those questions? thank you!
  

Top answer

It just so happens that we do not normally use an article when we talk of how we travel - on foot, by bike, by tram, by car, by bus, etc. I brush my t e eth with a toothbru s h just as I use a toothbrush to brush my teeth.

— Fivejedjon

  • It just so happens that we do not normally use an article when we talk of how we travel - on foot, by bike, by tram, by car, by bus, etc.
  • I brush my t e eth with a toothbru s h just as I use a toothbrush to brush my teeth.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

3 Answers
0
It just so happens that we do not normally use an article when we talk of how we travel - on foot, by bike, by tram, by car, by bus, etc.
I brush my teeth with a toothbrush just as I use a toothbrush to brush my teeth.
0
0
Anonymousby bike
Correct.
Anonymouswith toothbrush
Not correct.
______________________

There are thousands of expressions that consist of a preposition and a noun without an article. These should probably be learned separately as two-word expressions when you see them. Then you don't even have to think
0
0
And you're probably familiar with 'by definition' and 'by default' , just to add a couple more.
0

Related Questions