why not need for "the"

Question

Hi,I came across this sentence and wonderin why no "the" here.They are names of towns in the area.Why not, they are the names of towns in the area.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Because the sentence is incorrect. It should say "the names."  However, the sentence is still awkward.

Murasaki · Answer

You could use 'the' as in

They are the names of towns in the area

however there's no need. Names is a countable noun used in the plural form so it is not necessary to have a determiner , such as the definite article, preceding it and from the context (sorry you didn't provide the whole text) the pronoun They already connects the names by referring back to them so we know which names the writer/speaker means.

Hope this helps

CalifJim · Answer

Why no "the"?

They are the names of towns in the area.

Answer: Because the writer of the statement did not want to imply that the list of names was complete and exhaustive.

"the names of the towns in the area" implies "the names of all the towns in the area".

The writer simply wanted to say "the names of some towns in the area".

"the" with a plural implies "all". For example, suppose there are exactly three bottles on a table, all of them broken. You can say The bottles on the table are broken or All the bottles on the table are broken. Both mean the same thing. The word "all" adds nothing, logically speaking, in such cases. So the omission of "the" with a countable plural noun generally indicates that we are speaking of fewer than all the entities under consideration.

CJ

Believer · Answer

0Thank you very much, CalifJim02br
02br
00Do you think Murasaki's response is valid? It seems to me to be a REALLY good response. Thank you, Murasaki. 0-

why not need for "the"

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