article + newspaper

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Stefan
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Turkey

article + newspaper

Post by Stefan » Tue Jan 04, 2005 6:44 am

Hi,

the rule that the definite article is used before newspapers is also applied to foreign newspapers, isn't it? So we say: "He works as a journalist for the Cumhuriyet." (Cumhuriyet = name of a Turkish newspaper).

Would you add "newspaper" even if it's clear that Cumhuriyet is a newspaper? ("He works as a journalist for the Cumhuriyet newspaper.")

Would you use the definite article when the name of the newspaper contains the definite article? "He works as a journalist for the Die Welt." (Die Welt = name of a German newspaper). "... for the Die Welt" sounds strange to my German ear.

Thanks in advance.
Stefan

metal56
Posts: 3032
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 4:30 am

Re: article + newspaper

Post by metal56 » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:44 am

Stefan wrote:Hi,

the rule that the definite article is used before newspapers is also applied to foreign newspapers, isn't it? So we say: "He works as a journalist for the Cumhuriyet." (Cumhuriyet = name of a Turkish newspaper).

Would you add "newspaper" even if it's clear that Cumhuriyet is a newspaper? ("He works as a journalist for the Cumhuriyet newspaper.")

Would you use the definite article when the name of the newspaper contains the definite article? "He works as a journalist for the Die Welt." (Die Welt = name of a German newspaper). "... for the Die Welt" sounds strange to my German ear.

Thanks in advance.
Stefan
Personally, I would not use a definite article in front of Cumhuriyet unless I wanted to impress the idea that it is a newspaper I'm talking about. If I am correct in assuming that the newspaper is named after the place, Cumhuriyet, then I would have a couple of choices at my disposal.

1. I read the Cumhuriyet newspaper (the newspaper produced in Cumhuriyet).

2. I read the newspaper, Cumhuriyet (the newspaper named Cumhuriyet).

3. I read the Cumhuriyet (normally meaning the newspaper named Cumhuriyet).

4. I read Cumhuriyet (normally meaning the newspaper named Cumhuriyet).

I would not use the definite article with names that already contain one- no matter what the language be.

lolwhites
Posts: 1321
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2003 1:12 pm
Location: France
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Post by lolwhites » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:26 am

I wouldn't use a definite article at all unless it were already part of the newspaper title. So:

I read the Times
I read Liberation (never *the Liberation)
I read el Mundo (never *the el Mundo)

Depending on the listener I might deem it necessary to explain that I'm talking about a newspaper. However, as usual, context is the key. Noone's going to say "I read..." out of the blue, it'll form part of an exchange e.g.

A: Do you read any Turkish newspapers?
B: Yes, I read Cumhuriyet every day.

UK news report: The Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reports that.... (given that UK readers may well have never heard of Cumhuriyet)

Stephen Jones
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sun May 18, 2003 5:25 pm

Post by Stephen Jones » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:06 pm

For English newspapers, I think the rule is that you use the article when the name is a noun and not otherwise.
So you will read The Times, the Arab News, and the Guardian, but Today, Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

With foreign newspapers you normally don't put in the aricle because you probably haven't the least idea what part of speech the word in the foreign language is.

This is one of those cases where you look on the web for a respectable newspaper's style book and follow it.

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