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Desafinado Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Why does this sentence have to use "the" for dentist

The dentist is an important part of health care.
  

Top answer

Desafinado Why does this sentence have to use "the" for dentist It does not have to; it could use 'dentists are'. 'The dentist' represents the profession.

— Mister Micawber

  • Desafinado Why does this sentence have to use "the" for dentist It does not have to; it could use 'dentists are'.
  • 'The dentist' represents the profession.
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4 Answers
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DesafinadoWhy does this sentence have to use "the" for dentist
It does not have to; it could use 'dentists are'. 'The dentist' represents the profession.
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Desafinado The dentist is an important part of health care.
It's just one of three typical ways of expressing a generic, so it doesn't "have to" use the. In order of estimated frequency, with the least common first:

1 the + singular (The tiger is a dangerous animal.)
2 a + singular (A tiger is a dangerous animal.)
3 plural (Tigers are
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Thank you for the detailed explanation.
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