Tagged: determiners
Children living behind the bar
😦 Famous people are followed everywhere by the press. Their families sometimes feel they have to hide from reporters, and the children of famous people may feel that they are living behind the bar.
Here, again, we have a breakdown in communication caused by inaccurate use of articles.
Remember that for any noun there are 3 possible meanings:
- all of them everywhere (or all of it for non-count nouns)
- one of many (or some of many for plurals)
- this one exactly (or these exactly for plurals)
I think the writer of the opening example meant to describe the bars in a prison, and was trying to use the idiom ‘behind bars’ (grammar = some of many).
- ‘the’ indicates this one exactly. If you are talking idiomatically about a prison window then that doesn’t look right. If there’s only one bar and unless it’s a very small window – or a very large bar – then the prisoner will be able to escape easily!
- Meanwhile ‘the bar’ has very strong connotations with the part of a pub or restaurant where people sit to drink alcohol. Add ‘behind’ and you get ‘behind the bar’ – the area where drinks are stored and where the bar staff prepare drinks for customers. Clearly this is not a suitable place for children!
I’m sure the writer meant something like this:
🙂 Famous people are followed everywhere by the press. Their families sometimes feel they have to hide from reporters, and the children of famous people may feel that they are living behind bars.
Now the text carries two correct meanings:
- The ‘s’ on ‘bars’ gives us the grammatical meaning some of many – so, more than one bar. (high score in IELTS writing for grammar)
- ‘behind bars’ is an idiom – we don’t imagine the children actually in prison, they’re just ‘trapped’ somehow, or their movements are restricted. (high score in IELTS writing for vocabulary)
Be careful with your meanings and choose articles (or ‘s’) with care!
The smartest use of articles
Before we get into the grammatical meaning of articles, I would just like to point out that in British English ‘smart’ is more commonly used to mean ‘elegantly dressed’. In American English it usually means ‘intelligent’, hence the term ‘smartphone’, although a lot of smartphones these days also look ‘smart’!
‘Article’ is also used in connection with clothing. We can talk about an ‘article of clothing’ just as we can talk about an ‘item of clothing’. And so ‘article’ is sometimes a useful word for classifying clothes.
An ‘article’ can also be a piece of writing in a magazine or newspaper!
But let’s get back to ‘articles’ and grammar! (a[n], the, zero)
I was browsing through DIGG this morning and saw an interesting headline – interesting because it demonstrates two important functions of articles.
This Isn’t a Smart Remote
If we say “a smart remote”, we’re not talking about one remote in particular. We’re talking in this case about a hypothetical remote – one of many.
This use of the indefinite article ‘a’ to talk about one of many is extremely common in English, but is often neglected by students.
Indonesian students either omit the article completely, or use a strategy from their first language to communicate one of many, usually translating directly from ‘salah satu’ (one of), or simply ‘satu’ (one).
It’s The Smartest Remote
If we say it’s “the smartest remote” then we’re talking about this one exactly, without comparison.
Clearly the advertisers, or journalists, want us to think of this smartphone as somehow unique. It’s not one of many, it’s this one exactly.
One last time for good measure:
- one of many – ‘a’
- this one exactly – ‘the’
Try to use these articles in your writing and speaking to communicate these meanings accurately. Then watch as your IELTS grammar scores begin to increase!
Close to edge(?!)
😦 Many countries are spending a lot of money on space exploration in order to reach edge of the universe.
Unfortunately in English nouns sometimes need some grammar in front of them in order to answer at least one of the following questions:
- Which one(s)?
- Whose?
- How many?
So let’s apply these questions to each of the five nouns in our example and make sure we have the right grammar in front of the noun. Here’s the example with the nouns highlighted:
- countries
- Which ones? – It doesn’t matter.
- Whose? – Doesn’t matter.
- How many? – ‘many’ answers this question. The number is not exact, but it doesn’t need to be exact. It’s enough to know that more than one country is being referred to.
So far, so good!
- money
- Which? – It doesn’t matter.
- Whose? – We can assume the money is being spent by the ‘countries’.
- How much? – ‘a lot of’ serves the same function as ‘many’.
- exploration
- Which? We don’t need any grammar to tell us which ‘exploration’. The word ‘space’ already answers that question. We know that it’s ‘space exploration’, and NOT ‘jungle exploration’ or ‘ocean exploration’.
- Whose? – We can assume the countries.
- How much? – Not important at this stage.
- edge
- Which one? – There is some text immediately after ‘edge’ that tells us exactly which edge – the edge of the universe (NOT the edge of the table). However, if it’s clear to both writer and reader exactly which noun is being referred to then in English we have to use the definite article ‘the’ in front of the noun. This was the grammatical error in the sentence – a missing ‘the’: the edge of the universe.
- Whose? – Irrelevant.
- How many? – Also irrelevant.
- universe
- Which one? – This is a special use of ‘the’ to tell us which one – when there is only one in the writer and reader’s shared context of reference! (Like the moon, the kitchen, etc.)
- Whose? – Irrelevant, although it would make for an interesting philosophical discussion!
- How many? – Irrelevant, but also interesting from a scientific / philosophical perspective!
Indonesian students are generally clear about whose and how many. However, they often forget to use articles to communicate which one(s).
Note that when a noun is followed by a preposition phrase (e.g. of the universe), that phrase usually tells exactly which noun you’re talking about. Next time you write a preposition phrase after a noun, especially one beginning ‘of’, think about using ‘the’ in front of the noun!
There is an idiom – ‘Close to the edge’ whose idiomatic meaning is perhaps best communicated in the song The Message by Grandmaster Flash:
Don’t push me, ‘coz I’m close to the edge
I’m tryin’ not to lose my head
It’s like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going’ under
You can listen to The Message here and follow the lyrics, but be warned – it’s full of other less useful idioms!
And while we’re talking about music, back in 1972 British prog rock band Yes made an album called Close to the edge!
Not that sector, this one!
😦 Agricultural sector is different from economic sector in the way research is conducted.
Here the writer is writing about specific sectors. If you say ‘agricultural sector’ we know you do not mean ‘education sector’!
If you want to communicate this one exactly then you need to use ‘the’:
🙂 The agricultural sector is different from the economic sector in the way research is conducted.
If you do not use ‘the’ when you mean this one exactly then you will receive a low score in IELTS for grammar and for coherence and cohesion. If you do not use ‘the’ when you mean this one exactly then your reader will stop reading and think “Does he mean this one exactly, or does he mean one of many, or does he mean all of them everywhere?” You must communicate one of these meanings if you want to be understood clearly.
If you want to communicate one of many then you need to use ‘a’:
🙂 Agriculture is a sector that requires different research approaches.
If you want to communicate all of them everywhere then you need to use ‘s’:
🙂 Government sectors mentioned in the report include agriculture and economics.
DishwasherS, vacuum cleanerS, etc.
😦 Domestic work is made easier with the use of dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, and washing machine.
It doesn’t matter which dishwasher, which vacuum cleaner, or which washing machine, they all make domestic work easier, or at least so this claim seems to suggest.
🙂 Domestic work is made easier with the use of dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines.
If your claim applies to all of them everywhere, add an ‘s’ to your noun!
The blah blah thing
😦 Agricultural sector is different from economic sector in the way research is conducted.
In the noun phrases agricultural sector and economic sector, you mention specific sectors – agricultural and economic. It is obvious that you are not talking about the bananas sector and the pornography sector.
If you mention a noun and both you and your reader know exactly which noun you’re talking about, then you must use the definite article ‘the’:
🙂 The agricultural sector is different from the economic sector in the way research is conducted.
Admittedly, identifying the main noun in a noun phrase becomes challenging with longer phrases. For example, can you identify the main noun in the following highlighted phrase? Answers in the comments section below! 🙂
I sometimes experience difficulties with the less obvious and more subtly nuanced aspects of article use in unnecessarily complicated academic writing.
Have fun with ‘the’. See you in the comments section.
#eapguru
guruEAP 