Articles, part 2

[norwolf]

Of all ____ reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was _____ most important one.
A the; a B. /; a C/; the D the; the


I think A, B, C and D are all correct. True?
Please.

 

[azcl]

Re: spread of?

Of all ____ reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was _____ most important one.
A the; a B. /; a C/; the D the; the


I think A, B, C and D are all correct. True?
Please.

***Not a teacher***
In my opinion, it must begin with 'Of all the reasons', I don't think 'Of all reasons' would be used generally. Therefore I would say only A and D.

Ade

 

[TheParser]

Re: spread of?

Of all ____ reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was _____ most important one.
A the; a B. /; a C/; the D the; the


I think A, B, C and D are all correct. True?
Please.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Norwood,

(1) Even for us native speakers, articles can present

a problem.

(2) Thus, I understand how difficult it can be -- especially for

people whose first language lacks "the."

(3) I believe that only D is "correct."

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

 

[azcl]

Re: spread of?

***Not a teacher***
Having re-read the post, I agree with MrParser and think I was wrong when I said A and D were acceptable. D is the only correct answer.

A does not work because if you begin a sentence with "Of all the reasons..." then it would not work to say "...is a most important one", because "Of all the reasons...." is drawing attention to a particular important reason (the most important one) and not a group of reasons which are important.

Apologies for the misleading response.

Ade

 

[norwolf]

What do you think of this:
Among all the reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was a most important one.

 

[5jj]

What do you think of this:
Among all the reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was a most important one.

If you really want to say a most, rather than a very, then omit all.

 

[norwolf]

Of all the reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was a very important one.
Do you natives say that without anything weird? Please.

 

[5jj]

Of all the reasons for my decision to become a university professor, my father’s advice was a very important one.
Do you natives say that without anything weird? Please.

Not really. Only 'the most' is natural here.