english articles

Hi,

When we begin a sentence with 'titles' like 'teamwork', facebook etc, do we need to put 'a' before them?

For example,

(A) Facebook is popular today among youngsters.'

(A)Teamwork is very important.

It is called as (a) group work.

thanks.

sebayanpendam said:

Hi,

When we begin a sentence with 'titles' like 'teamwork', facebook etc, do we need to put 'a' before them?

For example,

(A) Facebook is popular today among youngsters.'

(A)Teamwork is very important.

It is called as (a) group work.

thanks.

Click to expand...

No, if you put the indefinite article in front of "Facebook", you are implying that there are several "Facebooks" and one of them is popular. "Teamwork" is uncountable and doesn't take an article.

bhaisahab said:

No, if you put the indefinite article in front of "Facebook", you are implying that there are several "Facebooks" and one of them is popular. "Teamwork" is uncountable and doesn't take an article.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

Could you explain the indefinite article + 'Facebook' a bit more, please? I heard some people say "I have a facebook". Why not 'the Facebook' like the horse has four legs or horses have four legs.

Sorry if my questions bother you.

Thanks.

sebayanpendam said:

Thanks for the reply.

Could you explain the indefinite article + 'Facebook' a bit more, please? I heard some people say "I have a facebook". Why not 'the Facebook' like the horse has four legs or horses have four legs.

Sorry if my questions bother you.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

What people should be saying is "I am on Facebook" or "I have a Facebook page", or even "I have Facebook". In the second example, you need to use the indefinite article because you are talking about "a page". However, as the previous responder said, there is only one Facebook, therefore you would not use "a Facebook". Whoever you have heard saying "I have a Facebook" may be using it colloquially but it is not grammatically correct.

Hi,

When you mention about only Facebook being the one and only, is it not the same like the sun and internet. Both require 'the' to precede them, right? What about Facebook? Does it not require 'the' simply because it is like a proper name such as Daniel or something?

Thanks.

sebayanpendam said:

Hi,

Does it not require 'the' simply because it is like a proper name such as Daniel or something?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's right.

sebayanpendam said:

Hi,

When you mention about only Facebook being the one and only, is it not the same like the sun and internet. Both require 'the' to precede them, right? What about Facebook? Does it not require 'the' simply because it is like a proper name such as Daniel or something?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Facebook is, indeed, a proper noun. The sun and the internet are not, they do not require a capital letter and therefore can take a definite article.