Why are the articles omitted in these cases?
My book gives some examples to show how to remember vocabularies easily by associating with known words. But I notice that some of the articles are taken off, I do not know the reason why they should not be present.
EX:
1. There's pie in a piece. (not "a" pie in a piece)
2. Remember the a in "stand still." (not in "the" stand still)
3. There's an heir in "their" for ownership. ("an" comes out in this case, and not heir in "a" their)

Question

Why are the articles omitted in these cases?
My book gives some examples to show how to remember vocabularies easily by associating with known words. But I notice that some of the articles are taken off, I do not know the reason why they should not be present.
EX:
1. There's pie in a piece. (not "a" pie in a piece)
2. Remember the a in "stand still." (not in "the" stand still)
3. There's an heir in "their" for ownership. ("an" comes out in this case, and not heir in "a" their)

Answer

I don't recommend this method at all.

Answer

liosha,
1. okay either way.  You could say "there's a pie" or "there's pie".  Both are correct.
2."stand still" here is a verb and so should NOT have an article before it.  If the two words are brought together to form "standstill", then it is a noun - usually it would then have an "a" before it: "a standstill"
3."their" is an adjective and would only have an article because of a noun following it - so in your remembering help, it was left off(not needed)

Answer

1. That sentence really doesn't make sense (with or without the 'a'), unless they're saying that there's pie that comes in a piece? Otherwise, yes your instinct is correct, adding the 'a' is better.
2. You could technically say 'the stand still' if there was more of a context, but really if you say 'the stand still' it sounds like a place. "Stand still" is most commonly used in sentences like: "They came to a stand still." and in sentences such as these you would never say the stand still.
3. Heir gets an article because it is a noun, and it is furthermore a very tangible noun. Meanwhile, their is a possessive adjective, and adjectives do not get articles.

Answers · 6

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