Omission of article

[musicgold]

Hi All,

I feel that in the following sentence there should be a 'THE' before the word 'production'. Am I correct? Also Is this a case of omission of article? If so, what are the general rules for omission?

'Production of sodium chlorate at Chemtrade Logistics has been hurt by the declaration of force majeure by a salt supplier.'

Thanks,

MG.

[Tdol]

There could be an article, but it's fine without.

[musicgold]

Tdol,

Thanks. I would appreciate it if you could point me to the specific rule on omission of articles. One of the problems I face in learning English is that there is too much flexibility around the rules. Of course, that is good if you are an experienced user but confusing if you are new to the language.

MG.

[Tdol]

This is a very tricky area for advanced learners and it is very difficult to formulate advanced rules that account for all instances of use. In this case, 'production', we have a noun used in an uncountable way, so the article would be used to specify some production, and note here that I could have said 'a particular production', which shows that an indefinite article is possible too in some cases.

However, 'production' is a word that carries the notion that the article might specify in its meaning; if I say production of salt in a particular factory, you automatically know which production, so adding a definite article is possible, but unnecessary. Your reader or listener will automatically assume that you are referring to all that the factory produces. If you said 'part of the production', then, to me, the article becomes necessary because you are breaking the whole up and need to be specific. I am afraid that choices can be made at this level with the articles and it's often on a case-by-case basis. You may well find other people that would use the article and do things slightly differently.

At an elementary level, it's easy to say that if you use the article you should be able to point to which or what you are referring to, but here we have a case where you can point without the article, making it unnecessary.

If there were a straightforward answer and I could cofidy it, I would make a fortune. Sadly, there isn't.

[MikeNewYork]

This is a very tricky area for advanced learners and it is very difficult to formulate advanced rules that account for all instances of use. In this case, 'production', we have a noun used in an uncountable way, so the article would be used to specify some production, and note here that I could have said 'a particular production', which shows that an indefinite article is possible too in some cases.

However, 'production' is a word that carries the notion that the article might specify in its meaning; if I say production of salt in a particular factory, you automatically know which production, so adding a definite article is possible, but unnecessary. Your reader or listener will automatically assume that you are referring to all that the factory produces. If you said 'part of the production', then, to me, the article becomes necessary because you are breaking the whole up and need to be specific. I am afraid that choices can be made at this level with the articles and it's often on a case-by-case basis. You may well find other people that would use the article and do things slightly differently.

At an elementary level, it's easy to say that if you use the article you should be able to point to which or what you are referring to, but here we have a case where you can point without the article, making it unnecessary.

If there were a straightforward answer and I could cofidy it, I would make a fortune. Sadly, there isn't.

That was very good, IMO.

[musicgold]

Tdol,

That answer clears many doubts. Thanks a lot.