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MUSCOVITE Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

with or without the definite article?

Hi,

The following sentence is taken from an IEC document:

The protection scheme and associated control buttons are shown in THE figure I.4.

Could you please explain why the definite article is used before "figure" in the sentence?

What is the general rule if the number (of a picture or figure or table ) is alpha-numeric (not pure numeric)?

mus-te
  

Top answer

It seems wrong to me. I would say "THE figure below" for example but I wouldn't use an article in the example you give. I'm afraid I'll have to think about it a bit longer before I can explain exactly why I think that but I'd say it's not correct.

— Anonymous

  • It seems wrong to me.
  • I would say "THE figure below" for example but I wouldn't use an article in the example you give.
  • I'm afraid I'll have to think about it a bit longer before I can explain exactly why I think that but I'd say it's not correct.
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6 Answers
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It seems wrong to me. I would say "THE figure below" for example but I wouldn't use an article in the example you give.
I'm afraid I'll have to think about it a bit longer before I can explain exactly why I think that but I'd say it's not correct.
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Thanks a lot, Anonymous!

I'd also like to add here that it WAS NOT just a typo.... In fact, there are VERY MANY similar examples ( "....THE figure [alpha-numeric#]") in the document...
AnonymousI'm afraid I'll have to think about it a bit longer before I can explain exactly why I think that but I'd say it's not correct.
Looking forward to your comments/
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MUSCOVITEThe protection scheme and associated control buttons are shown in THE figure I.4.Could you please explain why the definite article is used before "figure" in the sentence?
The definite article is used before "figure" because the writer is ignorant of English grammar.
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As I see it, your example is okay. Some people like to use the definite article in a situation like this, because it makes the text sound more elegant.
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AnonymousAs I see it, your example is okay. Some people like to use the definite article in a situation like this, because it makes the text sound more elegant.
It makes the text sound wrong!
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CalifJimNo "the" with any of those (figure A, page 12, graph P23, paragraph 5b, table 6).
Understood!
Thank you so much, CalifJim!
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