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Why is "Reports" in sentence down without "The"
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Why is “Reports” in sentence down without “The”
Why “sensor fusion” is without “the”Why does the sentence have the indefinite article?superlative without “the”“Mechanism of toxicity involves…” - why without the definite article?The definite article before names of professions without earlier referencewhy “from childhood ” without any articles or possessive pronounsWhy is there two “the” before the “annual meeting” in the sentence “”?why do we need the in this sentenceWhat's the meaning of “get down” in this sentence?Which articulation is correct for natural things (cold, green, day, time) - A or The?
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Why is "Reports" in sentence down without "The":
Reports are coming in that a train has crashed near Birmingham.
This sentence is copied from the book How English Works by Michael Swam and Catherine Walter.
Why my question? Because I think that the plural "Reports" is a group of reports that have something together. It is new about "a train has crashed near Birmingham". For example, "The apples are red." Why not "Apples are red". I think because it is a group of red apples, not mix red, green, blue, etc.
articles american-english
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
add a comment |
Why is "Reports" in sentence down without "The":
Reports are coming in that a train has crashed near Birmingham.
This sentence is copied from the book How English Works by Michael Swam and Catherine Walter.
Why my question? Because I think that the plural "Reports" is a group of reports that have something together. It is new about "a train has crashed near Birmingham". For example, "The apples are red." Why not "Apples are red". I think because it is a group of red apples, not mix red, green, blue, etc.
articles american-english
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
add a comment |
Why is "Reports" in sentence down without "The":
Reports are coming in that a train has crashed near Birmingham.
This sentence is copied from the book How English Works by Michael Swam and Catherine Walter.
Why my question? Because I think that the plural "Reports" is a group of reports that have something together. It is new about "a train has crashed near Birmingham". For example, "The apples are red." Why not "Apples are red". I think because it is a group of red apples, not mix red, green, blue, etc.
articles american-english
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
Why is "Reports" in sentence down without "The":
Reports are coming in that a train has crashed near Birmingham.
This sentence is copied from the book How English Works by Michael Swam and Catherine Walter.
Why my question? Because I think that the plural "Reports" is a group of reports that have something together. It is new about "a train has crashed near Birmingham". For example, "The apples are red." Why not "Apples are red". I think because it is a group of red apples, not mix red, green, blue, etc.
articles american-english
articles american-english
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
edited 1 hour ago
SamBC
17.5k2565
17.5k2565
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
asked 1 hour ago
b2okb2ok
336314
336314
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Plurals do not require articles. If you use an article, you have a different meaning.
There are apples in the bowl. The apples are red.
The previously identified apples are red. Just like when used with a singular, the use of the definite article, the, indicates that you are talking about specific apples.
Apples are red.
This is a claim that apples, in general, are red. This is clearly an incorrect statement, as some apples have no noticeable red pigmentation at all. They are green (or, sometimes, more like yellow).
Apples are falling on my house.
Now, this isn't a general statement. It's not claiming that all apples in the world are falling your house right now. That would be alarming. It is saying that there are apples falling on your house. Similarly, we might say:
Reports are coming in that StackExchange is going to shut down.
This says that some reports are coming in saying that. If there was just one such report, we'd say "a report is coming in...". If we don't want to be precise about numbers, we just say reports.
I haven't sat down and explored this thoroughly, but it seems to me that a plural without article as the subject of a linking verb (be, look, seem, feel) is a statement in general about that category of item, possibly limited by context, and I suspect the same is true of verbs of state (stative verbs) and generally of verbs of perception (though I don't imagine inanimate objects being subjects of those very often). I'm not sure if there's a general rule for other action verbs, though. That's probably dependent on context. And of course negation changes things. For example,
Trains aren't running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's a general statement. However,
Trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's not; not all trains are running on the West Coast Mainline, after all. However, this might be because the first could be rewritten:
No trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
Then there's an explicit determiner.
Essentially, you can consider most plural nouns as having a determiner - either explicit, or implicit. It's working out what the implicit determiner is that's the trick. In your example, it's clearly some. In others, it will be something else.
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
add a comment |
Not a native speaker. That being disclaimed, I would say that the reports in this context are general and not specifically known from previous situation. If it'd be only a single report, you'd say "a report is coming..." but since it's multiple instances of it, we can omit the.
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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Plurals do not require articles. If you use an article, you have a different meaning.
There are apples in the bowl. The apples are red.
The previously identified apples are red. Just like when used with a singular, the use of the definite article, the, indicates that you are talking about specific apples.
Apples are red.
This is a claim that apples, in general, are red. This is clearly an incorrect statement, as some apples have no noticeable red pigmentation at all. They are green (or, sometimes, more like yellow).
Apples are falling on my house.
Now, this isn't a general statement. It's not claiming that all apples in the world are falling your house right now. That would be alarming. It is saying that there are apples falling on your house. Similarly, we might say:
Reports are coming in that StackExchange is going to shut down.
This says that some reports are coming in saying that. If there was just one such report, we'd say "a report is coming in...". If we don't want to be precise about numbers, we just say reports.
I haven't sat down and explored this thoroughly, but it seems to me that a plural without article as the subject of a linking verb (be, look, seem, feel) is a statement in general about that category of item, possibly limited by context, and I suspect the same is true of verbs of state (stative verbs) and generally of verbs of perception (though I don't imagine inanimate objects being subjects of those very often). I'm not sure if there's a general rule for other action verbs, though. That's probably dependent on context. And of course negation changes things. For example,
Trains aren't running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's a general statement. However,
Trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's not; not all trains are running on the West Coast Mainline, after all. However, this might be because the first could be rewritten:
No trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
Then there's an explicit determiner.
Essentially, you can consider most plural nouns as having a determiner - either explicit, or implicit. It's working out what the implicit determiner is that's the trick. In your example, it's clearly some. In others, it will be something else.
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
add a comment |
Plurals do not require articles. If you use an article, you have a different meaning.
There are apples in the bowl. The apples are red.
The previously identified apples are red. Just like when used with a singular, the use of the definite article, the, indicates that you are talking about specific apples.
Apples are red.
This is a claim that apples, in general, are red. This is clearly an incorrect statement, as some apples have no noticeable red pigmentation at all. They are green (or, sometimes, more like yellow).
Apples are falling on my house.
Now, this isn't a general statement. It's not claiming that all apples in the world are falling your house right now. That would be alarming. It is saying that there are apples falling on your house. Similarly, we might say:
Reports are coming in that StackExchange is going to shut down.
This says that some reports are coming in saying that. If there was just one such report, we'd say "a report is coming in...". If we don't want to be precise about numbers, we just say reports.
I haven't sat down and explored this thoroughly, but it seems to me that a plural without article as the subject of a linking verb (be, look, seem, feel) is a statement in general about that category of item, possibly limited by context, and I suspect the same is true of verbs of state (stative verbs) and generally of verbs of perception (though I don't imagine inanimate objects being subjects of those very often). I'm not sure if there's a general rule for other action verbs, though. That's probably dependent on context. And of course negation changes things. For example,
Trains aren't running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's a general statement. However,
Trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's not; not all trains are running on the West Coast Mainline, after all. However, this might be because the first could be rewritten:
No trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
Then there's an explicit determiner.
Essentially, you can consider most plural nouns as having a determiner - either explicit, or implicit. It's working out what the implicit determiner is that's the trick. In your example, it's clearly some. In others, it will be something else.
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
add a comment |
Plurals do not require articles. If you use an article, you have a different meaning.
There are apples in the bowl. The apples are red.
The previously identified apples are red. Just like when used with a singular, the use of the definite article, the, indicates that you are talking about specific apples.
Apples are red.
This is a claim that apples, in general, are red. This is clearly an incorrect statement, as some apples have no noticeable red pigmentation at all. They are green (or, sometimes, more like yellow).
Apples are falling on my house.
Now, this isn't a general statement. It's not claiming that all apples in the world are falling your house right now. That would be alarming. It is saying that there are apples falling on your house. Similarly, we might say:
Reports are coming in that StackExchange is going to shut down.
This says that some reports are coming in saying that. If there was just one such report, we'd say "a report is coming in...". If we don't want to be precise about numbers, we just say reports.
I haven't sat down and explored this thoroughly, but it seems to me that a plural without article as the subject of a linking verb (be, look, seem, feel) is a statement in general about that category of item, possibly limited by context, and I suspect the same is true of verbs of state (stative verbs) and generally of verbs of perception (though I don't imagine inanimate objects being subjects of those very often). I'm not sure if there's a general rule for other action verbs, though. That's probably dependent on context. And of course negation changes things. For example,
Trains aren't running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's a general statement. However,
Trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's not; not all trains are running on the West Coast Mainline, after all. However, this might be because the first could be rewritten:
No trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
Then there's an explicit determiner.
Essentially, you can consider most plural nouns as having a determiner - either explicit, or implicit. It's working out what the implicit determiner is that's the trick. In your example, it's clearly some. In others, it will be something else.
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
Plurals do not require articles. If you use an article, you have a different meaning.
There are apples in the bowl. The apples are red.
The previously identified apples are red. Just like when used with a singular, the use of the definite article, the, indicates that you are talking about specific apples.
Apples are red.
This is a claim that apples, in general, are red. This is clearly an incorrect statement, as some apples have no noticeable red pigmentation at all. They are green (or, sometimes, more like yellow).
Apples are falling on my house.
Now, this isn't a general statement. It's not claiming that all apples in the world are falling your house right now. That would be alarming. It is saying that there are apples falling on your house. Similarly, we might say:
Reports are coming in that StackExchange is going to shut down.
This says that some reports are coming in saying that. If there was just one such report, we'd say "a report is coming in...". If we don't want to be precise about numbers, we just say reports.
I haven't sat down and explored this thoroughly, but it seems to me that a plural without article as the subject of a linking verb (be, look, seem, feel) is a statement in general about that category of item, possibly limited by context, and I suspect the same is true of verbs of state (stative verbs) and generally of verbs of perception (though I don't imagine inanimate objects being subjects of those very often). I'm not sure if there's a general rule for other action verbs, though. That's probably dependent on context. And of course negation changes things. For example,
Trains aren't running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's a general statement. However,
Trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
That's not; not all trains are running on the West Coast Mainline, after all. However, this might be because the first could be rewritten:
No trains are running on the West Coast Mainline today.
Then there's an explicit determiner.
Essentially, you can consider most plural nouns as having a determiner - either explicit, or implicit. It's working out what the implicit determiner is that's the trick. In your example, it's clearly some. In others, it will be something else.
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
answered 44 mins ago
SamBCSamBC
17.5k2565
17.5k2565
add a comment |
add a comment |
Not a native speaker. That being disclaimed, I would say that the reports in this context are general and not specifically known from previous situation. If it'd be only a single report, you'd say "a report is coming..." but since it's multiple instances of it, we can omit the.
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
add a comment |
Not a native speaker. That being disclaimed, I would say that the reports in this context are general and not specifically known from previous situation. If it'd be only a single report, you'd say "a report is coming..." but since it's multiple instances of it, we can omit the.
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
add a comment |
Not a native speaker. That being disclaimed, I would say that the reports in this context are general and not specifically known from previous situation. If it'd be only a single report, you'd say "a report is coming..." but since it's multiple instances of it, we can omit the.
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
Not a native speaker. That being disclaimed, I would say that the reports in this context are general and not specifically known from previous situation. If it'd be only a single report, you'd say "a report is coming..." but since it's multiple instances of it, we can omit the.
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
answered 1 hour ago
Konrad VilterstenKonrad Viltersten
2,05722344
2,05722344
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
add a comment |
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"The apples are red" also "not specifically known from the previous situation"
– b2ok
55 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
"Reports are coming in ..." means continuous = they are known from the previous situation
– b2ok
51 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok Nor would anybody say the apples are red if their existence hadn't been previously established, and some specific apples identified. If all apples, in general, are red, there would be no article at all. (And you can't say that there is a "previous situation" about the reports if you've failed to give that context.)
– Jason Bassford
11 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
@b2ok I don't follow the logic of either of your comments. Are you sure you don't have them backwards?
– Dawood ibn Kareem
8 mins ago
add a comment |
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