How shall I use articles in this context?
Dear italki users, I need your qualified help. I am translating a text about the Kamchatka peninsula into English. How shall I use articles in this text?

An acid lake located in _ crater of _ active volcano Gorely (the volcano consists of 11 cones and about 30 craters). There is a freshwater lake hiding in _ adjacent crater.

Usually, when we talk about a single mountain, we use it with zero article: Everest.
But the rule doesn't say anything about _ mountain Everest (with the name of the kind) and _ high mountain Everest (with a declarative adjective).

If possible, I need links to reliable sources.
Thank you!

Question

How shall I use articles in this context?
Dear italki users, I need your qualified help. I am translating a text about the Kamchatka peninsula into English. How shall I use articles in this text?

An acid lake located in _ crater of _ active volcano Gorely (the volcano consists of 11 cones and about 30 craters). There is a freshwater lake hiding in _ adjacent crater.

Usually, when we talk about a single mountain, we use it with zero article: Everest.
But the rule doesn't say anything about _ mountain Everest (with the name of the kind) and _ high mountain Everest (with a declarative adjective).

If possible, I need links to reliable sources.
Thank you!

Answer

Anna, I am not sure exactly what the sentences are trying to express, so I don't know if this is factually correct, but let me try to re-compose this:

"An acid lake is located in the crater of Gorely, an active volcano consisting of 11 cones and about 30 craters. Additionally, there is a freshwater lake hiding in an adjacent crater."

I don't know if this is factually correct, because I don't know anything about volcanoes! But the grammar is now correct...

Answer

Anna, I cannot add the articles, because the sentence itself is written with such poor grammar. The sentence was not composed by a native speaker of English. No matter which articles you use, the grammar will still be incorrect. Is this a school exercise?

Answer

It is a comment below the picture of Gorely.
Let's imagine the phrase IN THE PICTURE WE SEE at the beginning of the paragraph. So we do not need any IS in the first sentence.

Are there any actual teachers here who have seen at least one useful book on Standard English grammar in their life? I need the exact rule guys, not just an opinion.

Answer

I think we can't judge the quality of the translation since we haven't seen the whole paragraph. And "such poor grammar" is when I write something in English. The girl's text is just fine. Maybe just one purely esthetical modification related to the parenthesis.

Answer

In your text, you need a, the, and an (in that order). There's no reason to use the "zero article" in any of those spaces.

However, I also agree with Jeff: the whole paragraph needs rewriting.

Answers · 5

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