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Listenever Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

We've tried (a) beautician.



The story: After failing as a beautician and chicken factory worker, Louisa lands a position as a caregiver to a disabled man named Will.

The trailer starts like this:
Syed: We've tried the chicken factory.
Louisa Clark: I'm still having nightmares about those giblets.
Syed: We've tried beautician.

I don't hear "a" before "beautician". Is it grammatical to leave out the indefinite article in this context? If so, why?
  

Top answer

I don't hear "a" before "beautician". Is it grammatical to leave out the indefinite article in this context? It's not exactly a question of 'grammatical' or 'not grammatical'.

— CalifJim

  • I don't hear "a" before "beautician".
  • Is it grammatical to leave out the indefinite article in this context?
  • It's not exactly a question of 'grammatical' or 'not grammatical'.
  • It's just that in ordinary conversations we adopt whatever stylistic conventions seem to work at the time.
  • In this case Syed is using "beautician" as a title or header, not as a fully grammatical expression.
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7 Answers
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listeneverSyed: We've tried beautician.I don't hear "a" before "beautician". Is it grammatical to leave out the indefinite article in this context?
It's not exactly a question of 'grammatical' or 'not grammatical'. It's just that in ordinary conversations we adopt whatever stylistic conventions seem to work at the time. In this case Syed is using "beautician
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Could he have said instead "We've tried a beautician"?

Also, is it also possible to say in the first line "We've tried chicken factory" without the definite article?
Actually, I'm not sure if there's the "the" in the first line in the first place.
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listeneverCould he have said instead "We've tried a beautician"?
Yes.
listeneverAlso, is it also possible to say in the first line "We've tried chicken factory" without the definite article?
Yes.
__________

If you're a native speaker, you can say anything you want any time you want because you instinctive
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listeneverActually, I'm not sure if there's the a "the" in the first line in the first place.
A there is construction very rarely has 'the'.

As a matter of fact, there is no "the" in the first line.

CJ
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Well, could you confirm if he dropped the definite article in the first line or not?
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listeneverWell, could you confirm if he dropped the definite article in the first line or not?
I just did while you were posting this.

CJ
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