[Grammar] Zero article or with an article ?

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vader jr

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Hi, I wanna ask about grammar...
I want to describe an occupation in GENERAL...

Eg: DOCTOR

Should I write..with article 'a'..
"A doctor works in a hospital. A doctor treats patients and gives medicine.'

OR..with zero article..

"Doctor works in a hospital. Doctor treats patients......"

I'm confused here..:cry:
 

TheParser

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Hi, I wanna ask about grammar...
I want to describe an occupation in GENERAL...

Eg: DOCTOR

Should I write..with article 'a'..
"A doctor works in a hospital. A doctor treats patients and gives medicine.'

OR..with zero article..

"Doctor works in a hospital. Doctor treats patients......"

I'm confused here..:cry:
***NOT A TEACHER***You should say, "A doctor works in a hospital." (P.S. Here in the United States, some nurses say, "Doctor is busy." That is a quick way to say that "Dr. Smith (for example) is busy." ) Thank you.
 

sarat_106

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***NOT A TEACHER***You should say, "A doctor works in a hospital." (P.S. Here in the United States, some nurses say, "Doctor is busy." That is a quick way to say that "Dr. Smith (for example) is busy." ) Thank you.

An article is always necessary before a common noun (countable singular) such as ‘doctor’. Next comes, whether to put an indefinite or a definite article? To indicate definiteness, use ‘the’ otherwise ‘a’ or ‘an’. A noun is definite if it refers to something specific that is known to both the writer/speaker or the reader/listener
For example,
If some comes to the hospital and asks the nurse:
Can I see the doctor here? (the doctor means the specific doctor on duty at the time of asking the question which is known to the nurse)
Nurse: Please wait. The doctor is busy.
If the question is:
Can I see a doctor. (a doctor means any one who is present at the time of asking the question.)
Nurse: Sorry, no one is free.

No (zero) article;
Doctors in this hospital are on leave today. (plural and indefinite)
“doctors” is plural. The lack of an article in front of it means that the speaker/writer is talking not about particular doctors that are known to the listener/reader, but about doctors in general working in that hospital

For proper use of article, a clear understanding of two concepts countability and definiteness are essential.
 
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vader jr

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How about I wanna write a 'factual description' about an occupation 'TEACHER' generally without referring to any specific individual...

Example:
Being a teacher is one of the popular ambitions. A teacher works in school. A teacher teaches students academic subjects and skill of living too.

Is the use article 'a' in both sentences appropriate or redundancy ?
Should it be replaced with 'the', zero article or 'teachers' to make it general...


***thank you everyone....:-D
 

philo2009

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You can make general references to countable nouns via either an indefinite singular or plural noun phrase, hence either

A doctor works in a hospital.

or

Doctors work in hospitals.


, with the plural form being generally the more natural choice.

Note that it is even possible to make universal references using the definite article, although this is mainly reserved for animals or inanimate objects and tends to lend a somewhat elevated or scientific tone, e.g.

The rhinoceros is a shortsighted beast.

or

The violin is a beautiful instrument.

 

sarat_106

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How about I wanna write a 'factual description' about an occupation 'TEACHER' generally without referring to any specific individual...

Example:
Being a teacher is one of the popular ambitions. A teacher works in school. A teacher teaches students academic subjects and skill of living too.

Is the use article 'a' in both sentences appropriate or redundancy ?
Should it be replaced with 'the', zero article or 'teachers' to make it general...


***thank you everyone....:-D

‘teacher’ is singular and countable noun, There are three sentences (not two) where it does not refer to any specific teacher. So ‘a’ is essential.

You can replace 'a' by ‘the’ after the fist sentence, as a rule: The noun has been previously mentioned, so a reader/listener can know specifically what a noun is referring to; as:
I saw a funny-looking dog yesterday [first mention, indefinite]. When it saw my cat, the dog ran away [second mention, definite].
 
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