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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004a car, the car, cars?
Hi. I am tried to choose either "a" or "the" before nouns in my writing. Well... I am not still sure about them.... Let me give a example... If i want to say... Though counting better durability of modern car, the weight of old age car in the domestic auto market. Should I put "a" before modern car? or should I say cars.... Please help me out > Though counting better durability of modern car, the weight of old age car > in the domestic auto market. > > Should I put "a" before modern car? or should I say cars.... "... a modern car, " or "... modern cars, " - BUT - It is the rest of the sentence that needs help. "Though counting better durability ..." does not sound like the beginning of a sentence. The word "though" is telling me that you have not written the whole sentence. "counting", you mean 1, 2, 3, 4, etc? "Weight", as in 550Kg? As I try to read your thought behind the sentence, I cannot decide whether you are being positive or negative with respect to the "old age" ("older" or "vintage"?) car. Are you trying to say something like this: "Although the modern car has become more durable, one should not dismiss the value of the older car in the domestic market."? H I changed little bit. It is better sentence compared to the previous sentence? What I want to say is the market share of the used car increases. I am still confused about "a" or "the" or "-s" beffore nouns, Though counting longer durability of modern car, the market share of a used car in the domestic auto market increases. > > Though counting better durability of modern car, the weight of old age car > > in the domestic auto market. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > H In our last episode, <bu5g67$dtaj6$1@ID-199858.news.uni-berlin.de>, the lovely and talented WhyYouCareMe broadcast on alt.usage.english: > I changed little bit. It is better sentence compared to the previous > sentence? What I want to say is the market share of the used car increases. > I am still confused about "a" or "the" or "-s" beffore nouns, > Though counting longer durability of modern car, the market share of a used > car in the domestic auto market increases. This is much improved. "Though" is not correct here. "Though" and "although" introduce information that is counter to expectations or to the sense of the main clause. The greater durability of modern cars is not opposed to the sense of the main clause. Indeed, the greater durability of modern cars is the explanation or cause of the situation explained in the rest of the sentence. So the whole would be something like this: Because modern cars are more durable, the market share of used cars is increasing in the domestic auto market. Owing to the durability of modern cars, used cars have an increasing share of the domestic auto market. "Though" or "although" would indicate something contrary to the main sense: "Although modern cars last longer, the market share of used cars has not increased in the domestic market."  SignatureLars Eighner -finger for geek code- eighner@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/ "Some books are undeservedly forgotten, none are undeservedly remembered." --W. H. Auden Thank you so much. It was my first posting on newsgroup. I appreciate such fast reply. Now, I think I am doing better than before. Have a nice day to all. > In our last episode, > <bu5g67$dtaj6$1@ID-199858.news.uni-berlin.de>, [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > "Although modern cars last longer, the market share of used cars > has not increased in the domestic market." > In our last episode, > <bu5g67$dtaj6$1@ID-199858.news.uni-berlin.de>, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > This is much improved. "Though" is not correct here. I think WhyYouCareMe meant "Through", as in "Through this method, we find..." It doesn't quite work, though. "By counting the longer durability of modern cars..." "If we count the longer durability of modern cars..." >"Though" > and "although" introduce information that is counter to expectations [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > "Although modern cars last longer, the market share of used cars > has not increased in the domestic market." SignatureBest - Donna Richoux > I think WhyYouCareMe meant "Through", as in "Through this method, we > find..." It doesn't quite work, though. > > "By counting the longer durability of modern cars..." > "If we count the longer durability of modern cars..." I thought he meant "Despite". "Despite the longer durability of modern cars, the market share of used cars has increased in the domestic auto market." SignatureJohn Varela (Trade "OLD" lamps for "NEW" for email.) I apologize for munging the address but the spam is too much. In our last episode, <ZKRm3c4Ddl7U-pn2-qyf9VlDp2wYJ@dialup-171.75.33.171.Dial1.Washington1.Level3.net>, the lovely and talented John Varela broadcast on alt.usage.english: >> I think WhyYouCareMe meant "Through", as in "Through this method, we >> find..." It doesn't quite work, though. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > I thought he meant "Despite". > "Despite the longer durability of modern cars, the market share of used > cars has increased in the domestic auto market." This makes my head hurt, but it seems to me if cars last longer there will be more used cars on the market and used cars will be more attractive. Let's say there is a certain part of the market is composed of persons who are all et-up with consumerism and who will buy a new car every year and trade in their year-old cars. If cars are more durable, more of those year-old trade-ins will be servicable and will enter the used-car market. Since there are more used cars on the market, the price of used cars be less, and since cars are more durable, the used cars on the market will have a longer useful life left in them. Thus, the part of the market that is composed of persons who consider price and value will find used cars more attractive. I think. Then if modern cars are more durable, used cars will have a greater market share. SignatureLars Eighner -finger for geek code- eighner@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/ Turn pimp, flatterer, quack, lawyer, parson, be chaplain to an atheist, or stallion to an old woman, anything but a poet; for a poet is worse, more servile, timorous and fawning than any I have named. --William Congreve > I changed little bit. It is better sentence compared to the previous > sentence? What I want to say is the market share of the used car increases. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Though counting longer durability of modern car, the market share of a used > car in the domestic auto market increases. I suspect that you want to say, "However, because of the greater durability of modern cars, the market share of used cars in the domestic auto market increases." "However" differs from "though" in that what follows "however" should be a complete sentence. What follows "though" is a subordinate clause, as Lars explained. ("However" also has other meanings, and different rules apply to it when it's used with those meanings.) I changed "counting" to "because of" because "counting" in this position means something like "including". If you're talking about a calculation or simulation or something like that, you might mean "when we take into account". "Longer durability" is something some native speakers would say. (I hope you feel good about that!) According to <www.googlefight.com>, it gets 5,180 hits compared to 18,300 for "greater durability". I think "greater durability" is preferable. Durability means something like "long-lasting-ness", so "longer durability" seems redundant. The same objection applies to other phrases I hear a lot: "cold temperatures", "fast speeds", etc. (sounds like a movie title). It would be grammatically correct to say "the greater durability of the modern car". I dislike that construction (in which "the [singular noun phrase]" stands for "[plural noun phrase]" or maybe "typical [plural noun phrase]"), so I used "... of modern cars", also correct. We're talking about many, many cars, so I like the plural. Something similar applies to "the market share of used cars". The singular is incongrous here, because the market share of one used car is practically zero. Finally, I suspect you mean "has increased" (if you're talking about the recent past, up to the present) or "is increasing" (if you're talking about what is happening right now) instead of "increases". I hope that helps! SignatureJerry Friedman In our last episode, <bu5dna$dpljc$2@ID-199858.news.uni-berlin.de>, the lovely and talented WhyYouCareMe broadcast on alt.usage.english: > Hi. I am tried to choose either "a" or "the" before nouns in my writing. > Well... I am not still sure about them.... > Let me give a example... If i want to say... > Though counting better durability of modern car, the weight of old age car > in the domestic auto market. > Should I put "a" before modern car? or should I say cars.... > Please help me out First you need a verb for the sentence. Evidently you mean to make some comparison between modern cars and older ones or a comparison between the durability of new cars and the weight of old ones. I am not sure, because I wonder whether "weight" is not supposed to take the place of the verb here. Perhaps you are comparing the durability of new cars and old cars and "weight" has something to do with the balance of the choice between them. "Old age car" is not correct. The only way it can be interpreted is "old-age car" which would be a car for an old person or a "retirement car" if there were such a thing. I am certain that is not what you mean. You mean "old car," "older car," or "older-model car." "Modern car" can be either "a modern car" or "modern cars." In many cases, it will not matter which you choose so long as you make the same choice in both parts of the comparison. Whether one should be preferred over the other depends upon a part of the sentence that you have not provided. If you are advising a person on the purchase of one car, the comparison should be between "a modern car" and "an old car." If you are writing about the automobile market in general, then "modern cars" and "old cars" would be acceptable. In addition, the terms to be compared should be as nearly alike as possible. These are the possibilities: a new car : an old car a late-model car : an old-model car a newer car : an older car. However, you may mean the comparison to be between durability and weight, in which case it should be "the durability" and "the weight." This would make as much of the sentence as I can interpret something like: "Although counting the durability of a new car, <something missing> the weight of an old car <something missing> in the domestic auto market." "Although counting the durability of late-model cars, <something missing> the weight of old-model cars <something missing> in the domestic auto market." I do not understand why durability and weight would be compared, which is why I suspect "weight" might be a mistake for what the verb of this sentence ought to be. SignatureLars Eighner -finger for geek code- eighner@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/ I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves. --E. M. Forster > Hi. I am tried to choose either "a" or "the" before nouns in my writing. > Well... I am not still sure about them.... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Please help me out cars Adrian |
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