Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

I�m trying to put a sentence in Japanese into English. The following is what I have made. Which is grammatically correct and natural for the blank in the sentence below, #1, #2, #3, or #4 ?
1. a door
2. the door
3. doors
4. the doors

I have hardly ever seen Japanese people holding ( ) open for the next person.

First I wrote #2, but I began to wonder if #4 might be OK. How about #1 and #3? I would like your help, please.

[redset]

Most people would probably use #2, holding the door is a common phrase for this act of politeness. #1 is fine too, and this is the usual structure we'd use for describing a general action - the reason we can use the definite article is that holding the door is a recognisable phrase, like cutting the grass (mowing a lawn as a chore) or setting the alarm (setting an alarm clock to wake you in the morning).

In contrast, if you said someone was writing the letter then people would think, "what letter?". Using the indefinite article describes what's physically happening, without expecting the reader to understand some implied detail. As it happens, 'holding a door open for the next person' pretty much covers all the detail you need to know! It's obvious that it's an act of politeness toward the next person. #3 is basically the same construction, people (plural) holding doors (plural) instead of people (individuals) holding a door when they pass through it.

#4 doesn't really work, you're using the definite article but holding the doors isn't a common phrase, so generally people will have the 'what doors?' reaction unless you provide some extra information.