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hela
Joined: 02 May 2004
Posts: 420
Location: Tunisia
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 Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:34 pm Post subject: article (21/1/06) |
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Dear teachers,
Would you please tell me why we don�t use an article before �forest�?
The co-operative was founded in 1947 by photographers Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour. All of them had been involved in the Second World War. Rodger had walked hundreds of miles through forest to escape the Japanese in Burma.
Thanks a lot,
Hela |
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bud
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 2111
Location: New Jersey, US
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| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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I think it is that "forest" is being treated as a general concept, instead of a specific forest, in that sentence. It brings to the reader's mind the idea of the difficulties of walking through hundreds of miles of forested land - any forested land. An article would bring to mind a (or the) forest of Burma.
There's really not much difference between the two; it's very subtle. I would say, though, that it is more poetic without the article, and more likely to be omitted in writing than in speech. |
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advoca
Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 422
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Rodger had walked hundreds of miles through forest to escape the Japanese in Burma. Would you please tell me why we don�t use an article before �forest�? |
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Bud puts it nicely. He said, �I think it is that 'forest' is being treated as a general concept, instead of a specific forest, in that sentence. It brings to the reader's mind the idea of the difficulties of walking through hundreds of miles of forested land - any forested land. An article would bring to mind a (or the) forest of Burma.�
Hela, think of forest as generally referring to an area where there are lots of trees (forested land). If there were several of these forests then Roger could walk through a forest to escape the Japanese (one of the forests). If he were in the Black Forest then he could walk in the forest (That specific forest)
Look at another example. �Put chairs in the hall for the meeting.� (Put a number of chairs there, or put a lot of chairs.)
�Mary sat on a chair.� (She sat on one of the chairs)
�There are two chairs on the stage and an actor sat on a chair.� (He sat on one of those two chairs.)
�There is one chair on the stage and an actor sat on the chair �
Notice how we have used the general (chairs, forest). But notice how we go to the specific (a chair, a forest) and notice how we go to the emphatic (the chair, the forest).
Does that help? I hope so. |
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hela
Joined: 02 May 2004
Posts: 420
Location: Tunisia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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Yes it does!  Thank you both VERY much. |
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