In my grammar book it is written that the definite article is used before the armed forces.  For example: the police, the army.  The book also explained it by giving examples such as:        I think you should call the police.   The police are investigating fraud allegations against him.      But in the newspaper, I see some lines such as:        Police say the accused illegally exported beef.     Police have arrested three persons.      Could you explain why these variations are seen?
74712
Example with a context (news article: ):     In their last crime, the alleged robbers had grabbed more than 8 million rubles ($146,000) in an attack on a cash courier in May, police said.   What's wrong with saying the police said? What's the nuance? Check that article. Almost every time they use the word police, there's no article in front of it.
111926
I admit. The articles are the most difficult things I find in this language but I'm learning and I'm better than before! I've been reading about the articles in several authentic books and have a question now.      Does the adjective 'same' ALWAYS have the definite article 'the'?    In fact, looking at complexities of using the articles for zillions of nouns, I feel at least this word -same will make me sure using the article the if this is the case! So, next time on, I'll never make a mistake by not putting the before same.
23775
Newspaper/news article headlines usually have different syntax rules, for example   No copula. North Korea trip 'successful' Past events written in present. Qantas cancels flight out of frozen Heathrow Predictions written with infinitive. Britain's 'crossbow cannibal' to die in jail Very often not in complete sentence. No indefinite/definite articles. Ivory Coast Faction Squeezes UN Force Using a comma instead of "and". Romania, Bulgaria face delay in joining Schengen.   Why these rules and are there any other rules?
116291
Kafka, discovered in the 1920s by the Expressionists, damned by the Nazis in the 1930s and by the Marxists at more or less the same time, was reinvented after World War II by the French Existentialists. They saw in him the father of Angst and the Angst for the father: an Albert Camus before his time.   Can you tell me what the purpose of using the indefinite article before the proper name is in the sentence above. What it be a mistake to write just "Albert Camus" without the article?
44405
I have seen that in some scenarios word police is treated as a singular noun and in some other scenarios it is treated as a plural noun. I don't know the exact difference!  Can anybody provide few examples demonstrating the scenarios when the word police is treated as a singular and a plural noun?  Does it depends on the context only to treat it as plural or singular?  Consider these examples:      The police are blocking off the street where the accident occurred     A police officer is getting information from the neighbors.     The police department is at the corner of First and Main streets.     The New York police force has a special counter-terrorism squad     The police force is responsible for catching criminals    In the above examples, I can see the usage of 'Police' word as both singular and plural. I need to understand the exact concept when it will be as plural or singular?
8514
I often see people on the Internet using a comma before and in many cases (not adversative cases). Is it ok? In my language it is stricly prohibited to use a comma before an and except for adversative cases or when an apposition is in the front of that and. Examples (which I consider not ok):  He is a great player, and he prefers to play Counter-Strike. John joined the Army, and George joined the Marines.  What I consider exceptions:  Yes, and what is the problem? I called John, my brother, and now I’m speaking with him.
1469
How do I know whether to use the definite (the) or indefinite (a, an) article, and when to omit it altogether?
6046
I saw a bear, a lion and a donkey.   Is the usage of the article a necessary before each word in a list like this?      Biggs set out Monday morning for one of his usual hiking and   gold-panning trips near Whiskey Flats when he came across a mother   bear, yearling, and cub sitting on a stream bank.   Why is there no article before cub?
46476
I have a little issue with the use of zero versus definite article, since I tend to abuse the former one.  Consider the following sentences:        The issue described above influences the quality of software.   This general issue affects the speed of applications.   This affects the reliability of hardware.      The use of software, applications and hardware seems to me 'general', so according to what I know about english grammar, zero article should be used.  Suppose to add an adjective to 'specialize' such nouns, but still staying relatively general (i.e., not referring to specific applications).        The issue described above influences the quality of the? produced software.   This general issue affects the speed of the? deployed applications.   This affects the reliability of the? produced hardware.      In these last cases, is it mandatory to use the definite article or is zero article still acceptable? Is there grammar reference that justifies the answer?
13975
My mother language does not have articles, so I still struggle to choose when to use the indefinte and definite article. The other day, I learned:   "The dog is an animal" is acceptable. "The iron is a metal" is not acceptable. (By the iron, I mean the metal, not the device.)   Is that true? If so, could anyone explain why?
26401
What is the rule for omitting/including the definite article in the following sentences:     I used to play piano.   I used to play the piano.   I would pick the first sentence, but I've heard people say the second sentence even when they are not referring to a specific piano. Which one is correct?
15555
I'm writing a leaflet for children from primary schools who will visit our school.  Is it correct to write:     the "amerigo vespucci" school is waiting for you!!!!   Is the use of the definite article correct in this case? I am defining which school is waiting for them, I'm saying we and no others but us are willing to meet them?
1964
In AmE (and probably other dialects as well) there are certain place names and other proper nouns that either have a compulsory definite article or a compulsory lack of one attached to them.   For example:     The Upper West Side - Neighborhood in New York City with a compulsory The.   Midtown (Manhattan) - Compulsory lack of The.   Google - Compulsory lack of The to the point of .   Facebook - Compulsory lack of The .      Then there are others which are pseudo-plurals:     The Bronx -  Always gets The and is occasionally treated as plural.   Yonkers - Never gets The, never treated as a plural.    My question:  Is there a name for this phenomenon?  I know that the rules of articles in English are very fluid, but is there a rhyme or reason to this?
80662
According to my knowledge, the indefinite article 'a' must never be used before a proper noun. But I recently heard the English sentence: "Every civilian should be a Mahatma Gandhi to his society".  As per my knowledge, "Mahatma Gandhi" is a proper noun here and 'a' is the article.   Believing the speaker to have a good grasp of English, I now have this doubt: are there any occasions where it is proper to have an indefinite article before a proper noun?  Please advise me.
22718
My classmate wrote a text about zoos in general, and the word &quot;zoos&quot; in plural form is mentioned many times in it. Later in the text he uses singular form &quot;zoo&quot; two times with indefinite articles, and both times he still refers to an abstract zoo, not to specific one. He wrote:  The place where animals can obtain shelter is a zoo. You can take the kids to a zoo.  I'm having trouble in figuring out whether it is correct or not. I think that he should have used a definite article the second time, because he already mentioned a singular abstract zoo, but he argues that he refers to &quot;two different singular abstract zoos&quot;. So which article should be used in a second sentence?
69527
With reference to this question  and as per my understanding police is always plural. But I got shocked after seeing police used as a singular noun in :     Two days after the death of the 23-year-old gangrape victim, Delhi Police on Monday said it has finalised around 1,000-page chargesheet in connection with the incident and plans to submit it in court on Thursday.     I can't figure out why they have used police as singular. It's one of the prominent newspapers in India. I doubt myself about its usage. Could anyone elucidate it further?
41094
Apple is somewhat notorious for omitting articles when talking about their products, and statements such as "People love iPhone" hit my ear a little strangely. But when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I wouldn't say "the Windows" or "the iWork".   I couldn't come up with a reason that I use the definite article before some product names and not others. Is there some sort of convention (probably not a hard-and-fast rule) for usage here?