(The) Cambridge Dictionary. (A/The) Cambridge Dictionary('s) entry

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Alexey86

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Hello! I'd like to clarify the use of articles in the title of the Cambridge Dictionary. In one of my previous posts (https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/276465-Article-usage-with-quot-context-quot) Tarheel added "the" to the title (#9). The title of the relevant Wiki article is "Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary", but it starts with, "The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (unofficially Cambridge English Dictionary or Cambridge Dictionary, abbreviated CALD) was first published in1995..."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Advanced_Learner's_Dictionary)


My questions are:

1. Is "Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary" just the case of omitting articles in titles?

2. Should I always use "the", or I can omit it in the unofficial variants?

3. Suppose I mention an entry unfamiliar to the listener, which variant would be correct:
a) I've found it in a Cambridge Dictionary entry.
b) I've found it in a Cambridge Dictionary's entry.

4. Suppose I mention an entry familiar to the listener:
a) I've found it in the Cambridge Dictionary entry.
b) I've found it in the Cambridge Dictionary's entry.

I'm in doubt here because "a/the dictionary entry" sounds to me like a kind of entry, whereas "a/the dictionary's entry" sounds like a part of a particular dictionary.
 
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Tarheel

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1. It's their name. (I'm Tarheel, not the Tarheel.)
2 I don't understand that one.
3. I saw it in a Cambridge Dictionary entry.
4. No.
 

Alexey86

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2 I don't understand that one.

Can I say "Cambridge Dictionary" without "the" since it's an unofficial title?

3. I saw it in a Cambridge Dictionary entry.

Thank you!


Sorry, what particularly does "No" refer to?
 
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Tarheel

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1. It's their name. (I'm Tarheel, not the Tarheel.)

I used my name (Tarheel) as an example. Additional examples:

Ford trucks
LG phones
Cambridge Dictionary
 

Tarheel

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Say:

I found it in Cambridge Dictionary.

Or:

I saw it in Cambridge Dictionary.
 

Alexey86

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I'm confused, Tarheel. If the title functions as a proper name, why did you add "the" in my previous thread?
 

jutfrank

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1. Yes.
2. When speaking, yes.
3. a)
4. They're both wrong.
 

jutfrank

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I'm confused, Tarheel. If the title functions as a proper name, why did you add "the" in my previous thread?

Tarheel added the because it sounds wrong without it.

Don't worry about it if the official title doesn't include an article—you should use one in almost all cases.
 

Alexey86

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2. When speaking, yes.

Sorry, jutfrank, does "yes" mean that I should always use "the" when speaking, or that I can omit it?

4. They're both wrong.

So, what's the right variant when an entry is definite, "Cambridge Dictionary entry"?

And what do you think of the "a kind of entry/a part of a dictionary" distinction?
 

jutfrank

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Sorry, jutfrank, does "yes" mean that I should always use "the" when speaking ...?

No English teacher likes being asked to say 'always', but as a rule, yes.

So, what's the right variant when an entry is definite, "Cambridge Dictionary entry"?

What do you mean? What variant?

And what do you think of the "a kind of entry/a part of a dictionary" distinction?

I don't think I completely understand your distinction. Can you put it in different (or more) words?
 

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Say:

I found it in Cambridge Dictionary.

Or:

I saw it in Cambridge Dictionary.

I'd say the Cambridge Dictionary, just as I'd say the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary.
 

Alexey86

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No English teacher likes being asked to say 'always', but as a rule, yes.

I'm still confused because there are examples above without "the" ("I found it in Cambridge Dictionary").

What do you mean? What variant?

What if it's not just some unknown entry (a Cambridge Dictionary entry) but the one the listener has already heard of?

I don't think I completely understand your distinction. Can you put it in different (or more) words?

I mean the distinction like "a girl dress" (= a type of dress) vs "a girl's dress" (= a dress belongs to a girl). So, shouldn't "a dictionary entry" mean "a type of entry", while "a dictionary's entry" = "a part of a dictionary"?
 
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jutfrank

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I'm still confused because there are examples above without "the" ("I found it in Cambridge Dictionary").

Where else, apart from Tarheel's?

What may be confusing you is that the official name of the dictionary nowadays does not use the article, so if you want to mention it by name, then you shouldn't use the article, if you want to be precise. However, in common parlance, we refer to it using the article.


What if it's not just some unknown entry (a Cambridge Dictionary entry) but the one the listener has already heard of?

You can either say a Cambridge Dictionary entry (indefinite) or the Cambridge Dictionary entry (definite), depending on what you mean. But you can't say a Cambridge dictionary's entry. In these two noun phrases, the articles go with entry, not Cambridge Dictionary.

You can also say the Cambridge Dictionary's entry (possessive), where the definite article goes with Cambridge Dictionary. In other words, the article is part of the reference to the dictionary, not the entry.

You can't say a Cambridge Dictionary's entry, which is ungrammatical and senseless.


I mean the distinction like "a girl dress" (= a type of dress) vs "a girl's dress" (= a dress belongs to a girl).

Okay. Yes, in a Cambridge Dictionary entry, the phrase Cambridge Dictionary is modifying entry. It says something about what kind of entry is being referred to.
 

Alexey86

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Where else, apart from Tarheel's?

I meant only Tarheel's examples.

However, in common parlance, we refer to it using the article.

I see, thank you!

You can either say a Cambridge Dictionary entry (indefinite) or the Cambridge Dictionary entry...You can also say the Cambridge Dictionary's entry (possessive

Maybe I got it completely wrong, but in #7 you said that 4a) and 4b) are both wrong.

Okay. Yes, in a Cambridge Dictionary entry, the phrase Cambridge Dictionary is modifying entry. It says something about what kind of entry is being referred to

You also said that only 3a) is correct. So, why is "in a Cambridge Dictionary's entry" wrong? Why can't it be the indefinite variant of "in the Cambridge Dictionary's entry" meaning "in some entry included in the Cambridge Dictionary"?
 
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Tarheel

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Note that we wouldn't say a girl dress. It's a a girl's dress (a dress made to be worn by a young female person).
 

jutfrank

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Maybe I got it completely wrong, but in #7 you said that 4a) and 4b) are both wrong.

You're making me work hard tonight, Alexey. :)

I meant that the sentences were wrong, based on what I understood you to be asking, not that the phrases in themselves were wrong.


You also said that only 3a) is correct. So, why is "in a Cambridge Dictionary's entry" wrong?

It's ungrammatical and doesn't make sense. There's only one Cambridge Dictionary, so you can't use an indefinite article. Only a definite article is possible when it's possessive.

Why can't it be the indefinite variant of "in the Cambridge Dictionary's entry" meaning "in some entry included in the Cambridge Dictionary"?

As I said, there's only one Cambridge Dictionary. It doesn't make sense to refer to a Cambridge Dictionary. The reference must be definite.
 

Alexey86

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Note that we wouldn't say a girl dress. It's a a girl's dress

Yes, I think "a garden flower vs a garden's flower" would be a better example.

It doesn't make sense to refer to a Cambridge Dictionary.

So, in this case "a" goes only with the name, which makes no sense. We can't consider "Cambridge Dictionary's entry" as the syntactic unit which "a" refers to, can we? Does it mean that "a Cambridge Dictionary entry" can mean either "a kind of entry" or "an entry from the Cambridge Dictionary" depending on context?
 
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jutfrank

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So, in this case "a" goes only with the name, which makes no sense. We can't consider "Cambridge Dictionary's entry" as the syntactic unit which "a" refers to, can we? Does it mean that "a Cambridge Dictionary entry" can mean either "a kind of entry" or "an entry from the Cambridge Dictionary" depending on context?

Yes to all of that.
 

Alexey86

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If I had five copies of the dictionary and found a bookmark in one of them, could I say, "I found it in a Cabridge Dictionary", or only "in one of my Cambridge Dictionaries" would be correct?
 

jutfrank

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If I had five copies of the dictionary and found a bookmark in one of them, could I say, "I found it in a Cabridge Dictionary",


I see how you're thinking, and your question shows that you're thinking in the right way, but no, that's a terribly unlikely thought to have.

We don't normally think of Cambridge Dictionaries in that plural way. Like I said, there is only one Cambridge Dictionary, of which there are thousands of copies. The text itself is unique.

or only "in one of my Cambridge Dictionaries" would be correct?

Okay, but the listener would probably be surprised that your Cambridge Dictionaries are not identical. He might wonder why you've apparently kept outdated versions.
 
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