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Debpriya De Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Use of One as pronoun
"Open source software is the one whose source code is available."
In the above sentence "one" acts as a pronoun referring back to "software" and "the" is an article.
But when we say "An Open source software is one whose source code is available.", we assume that "one" means "a software", with the article "a" fused into the pronoun "one". Why is that ?
Why can't we write "An Open source software is a one whose source code is available." ?
In the above sentence "one" acts as a pronoun referring back to "software" and "the" is an article.
But when we say "An Open source software is one whose source code is available.", we assume that "one" means "a software", with the article "a" fused into the pronoun "one". Why is that ?
Why can't we write "An Open source software is a one whose source code is available." ?
Top answer
Because 'a' = 'one'. A pronoun takes the place of a noun. Give me an apple.
- Because 'a' = 'one'.
- A pronoun takes the place of a noun.
- Give me an apple.
- Give me one.
- Give me the apple on the table.
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4 Answers
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Because 'a' = 'one'. A pronoun takes the place of a noun.
Give me an apple. Give me one.
Give me the apple on the table. Give me the one on the table.
Give me an apple. Give me one.
Give me the apple on the table. Give me the one on the table.
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Firstly, "sofware" is uncountable so "an open source sofware" is grammatically incorrect. You can say "a piece of open source sofware" to make it countable.
Secondly, historically the indefinte article "a" stems from "one", so "a one" doesn't make much sense because it implies "one one". The exception is with a preceding adjective (a better one etc) but this is normally used only with co
Secondly, historically the indefinte article "a" stems from "one", so "a one" doesn't make much sense because it implies "one one". The exception is with a preceding adjective (a better one etc) but this is normally used only with co
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@MM,
We can say, Give me an apple. Give me a big one.
Why do we use "a" here as a determiner to "one" ?
As Ivanhr said, its an exception, but is tere any reason behind this ?
We can say, Give me an apple. Give me a big one.
Why do we use "a" here as a determiner to "one" ?
As Ivanhr said, its an exception, but is tere any reason behind this ?
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It's called 'reclassification'. Apples have been divided by the adjective into two sorts: big ones and little ones.
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