article before "mom" and "dad"

[Dmitry A. Kovalsiy]

Hi everyone!

Would you please explain me the rule of using articles before "mother/father/mom/dad". Should I use "the" when I write about my parents?

Thank you very much!

 

[GoesStation]

There is no one rule about this. You shouldn't use an article before mentioning your own parents.

 

[Dmitry A. Kovalsiy]

Is it the same as "no article before name like Janу or Robert"?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think you should simply say 'my father/mother/dad/mom/parents' without an article.

 

[GoesStation]

Is it the same as "no article before name like Janу or Robert"?

No, because there are cases where you do use an article. For example:

"I saw a family at the theater. The mother was wearing a red dress."
"I saw a young mother at the playground."​

In the first case, we're speaking about a specific mother as distinct from the rest of the family. In the second, we're speaking about one instance of the class "mothers". In neither case would you use the article for your own mother; you'd use the possessive pronoun "my". I can think of an exception where you're describing an old photograph, beginning in general terms: "The photo shows a busy mom washing dishes while her toddler bangs pots on the kitchen floor. The mother is my mom, and the toddler is me!"

 

[Dmitry A. Kovalsiy]

That was a brilliant explanation! Thank you very much!

 

[SoothingDave]

When speaking of your own parents, you can either say "my mom" or you can use "Mom" capitalized, as a name.