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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Zero Determiners

I just have a question on when an article / determiner is not required. Say, in the following sentence - "They reviewed the documents to ensure completeness and accuracy", should I put a "their" before "completeness"? For abstract nouns like this, is it okay to skip the determiners?
  

Top answer

Anonymous should I put a "their" before "completeness"? For abstract nouns like this, is it okay to skip the determiners? There is no need for 'their' there.

— Mister Micawber

  • Anonymous should I put a "their" before "completeness"?
  • For abstract nouns like this, is it okay to skip the determiners?
  • There is no need for 'their' there.
  • I doubt that you can always omit them, however.
  • The nurse looked at my prosthetics and admission slip to ensure completeness .
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3 Answers
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Anonymousshould I put a "their" before "completeness"? For abstract nouns like this, is it okay to skip the determiners?
There is no need for 'their' there. I doubt that you can always omit them, however.

The nurse looked at my prosthetics and admission slip to ensure completeness.
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Hi, thanks for your reply. Could you elaborate a bit more why we don't put a 'their' here? Isn't it in a specific context?
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AnonymousCould you elaborate a bit more why we don't put a 'their' here? Isn't it in a specific context?
Where, in your sentence or mine? My sentence is wrong because we cannot tell whether it is the limb or the document that is complete.
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