“Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.” – Why is...
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“Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.” – Why is there no article before “passengers”?
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“Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.” – Why is there no article before “passengers”?
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After all, we are talking about very definite passengers – the ones that were on that train. Can it be gathered from the sentence that not all of the passengers were given a refund?
P.S. The sentence comes from a grammar book.
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asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
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After all, we are talking about very definite passengers – the ones that were on that train. Can it be gathered from the sentence that not all of the passengers were given a refund?
P.S. The sentence comes from a grammar book.
articles
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
add a comment |
After all, we are talking about very definite passengers – the ones that were on that train. Can it be gathered from the sentence that not all of the passengers were given a refund?
P.S. The sentence comes from a grammar book.
articles
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
After all, we are talking about very definite passengers – the ones that were on that train. Can it be gathered from the sentence that not all of the passengers were given a refund?
P.S. The sentence comes from a grammar book.
articles
articles
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
asked 5 hours ago
ZakZak
6371311
6371311
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
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It could be a stylistic reason, because "the" has already been used for "the train", so "passengers" reads better. It is possibly from a newspaper article. Your reasoning is correct, the refund concerns these specific passengers.
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
add a comment |
The sentence
Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.
is formally ambiguous. One cannot tell from the sentence alone weather the passengers were given a refund -- that is, all the passengers. Or whether only some passengers were given a refund -- perhaps only those who complained. When an article is elided in this way, the reader must determine from context and common sense what the meaning is, and which article is implied. Here either choice is possible, although "the" seems more likely. But in another context the result would be different.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased.
Does that mean that every one of the dead person's friends and family spoke, or only some of them? Were all of them even present? "Some" is the likely choice here, but furhter context could change that.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased -- all five who were still alive.
Now the implication is otherwise.
When the choice of article is obvious, omitting it does not mislead the reader. When there is more than one serious possibility, this may be poor writing. Or it may be intentionally ambiguous writing.
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
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active
oldest
votes
It could be a stylistic reason, because "the" has already been used for "the train", so "passengers" reads better. It is possibly from a newspaper article. Your reasoning is correct, the refund concerns these specific passengers.
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
add a comment |
It could be a stylistic reason, because "the" has already been used for "the train", so "passengers" reads better. It is possibly from a newspaper article. Your reasoning is correct, the refund concerns these specific passengers.
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
add a comment |
It could be a stylistic reason, because "the" has already been used for "the train", so "passengers" reads better. It is possibly from a newspaper article. Your reasoning is correct, the refund concerns these specific passengers.
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
It could be a stylistic reason, because "the" has already been used for "the train", so "passengers" reads better. It is possibly from a newspaper article. Your reasoning is correct, the refund concerns these specific passengers.
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
answered 1 hour ago
anoukanouk
1,763414
1,763414
add a comment |
add a comment |
The sentence
Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.
is formally ambiguous. One cannot tell from the sentence alone weather the passengers were given a refund -- that is, all the passengers. Or whether only some passengers were given a refund -- perhaps only those who complained. When an article is elided in this way, the reader must determine from context and common sense what the meaning is, and which article is implied. Here either choice is possible, although "the" seems more likely. But in another context the result would be different.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased.
Does that mean that every one of the dead person's friends and family spoke, or only some of them? Were all of them even present? "Some" is the likely choice here, but furhter context could change that.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased -- all five who were still alive.
Now the implication is otherwise.
When the choice of article is obvious, omitting it does not mislead the reader. When there is more than one serious possibility, this may be poor writing. Or it may be intentionally ambiguous writing.
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
add a comment |
The sentence
Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.
is formally ambiguous. One cannot tell from the sentence alone weather the passengers were given a refund -- that is, all the passengers. Or whether only some passengers were given a refund -- perhaps only those who complained. When an article is elided in this way, the reader must determine from context and common sense what the meaning is, and which article is implied. Here either choice is possible, although "the" seems more likely. But in another context the result would be different.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased.
Does that mean that every one of the dead person's friends and family spoke, or only some of them? Were all of them even present? "Some" is the likely choice here, but furhter context could change that.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased -- all five who were still alive.
Now the implication is otherwise.
When the choice of article is obvious, omitting it does not mislead the reader. When there is more than one serious possibility, this may be poor writing. Or it may be intentionally ambiguous writing.
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
add a comment |
The sentence
Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.
is formally ambiguous. One cannot tell from the sentence alone weather the passengers were given a refund -- that is, all the passengers. Or whether only some passengers were given a refund -- perhaps only those who complained. When an article is elided in this way, the reader must determine from context and common sense what the meaning is, and which article is implied. Here either choice is possible, although "the" seems more likely. But in another context the result would be different.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased.
Does that mean that every one of the dead person's friends and family spoke, or only some of them? Were all of them even present? "Some" is the likely choice here, but furhter context could change that.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased -- all five who were still alive.
Now the implication is otherwise.
When the choice of article is obvious, omitting it does not mislead the reader. When there is more than one serious possibility, this may be poor writing. Or it may be intentionally ambiguous writing.
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
The sentence
Since the train was delayed for more than an hour, passengers were given a full refund.
is formally ambiguous. One cannot tell from the sentence alone weather the passengers were given a refund -- that is, all the passengers. Or whether only some passengers were given a refund -- perhaps only those who complained. When an article is elided in this way, the reader must determine from context and common sense what the meaning is, and which article is implied. Here either choice is possible, although "the" seems more likely. But in another context the result would be different.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased.
Does that mean that every one of the dead person's friends and family spoke, or only some of them? Were all of them even present? "Some" is the likely choice here, but furhter context could change that.
After the minister's eulogy, friends and family spoke about the deceased -- all five who were still alive.
Now the implication is otherwise.
When the choice of article is obvious, omitting it does not mislead the reader. When there is more than one serious possibility, this may be poor writing. Or it may be intentionally ambiguous writing.
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
answered 59 mins ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
2,984316
2,984316
add a comment |
add a comment |
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