Is the "THE" necessary?

[TheParser]

On May 1, 1941, he "was immediately appointed Minister of State. [This was not a job with only an elegant title and no real work. In fact] in the September he visited Moscow [on important business] ... and in the December he accompanied [the prime minister] to Washington."

(1) Would you kindly explain the use of the definite article in that passage?

(2) Do you recommend that we learners imitate this in our own writing? It has such a beautiful ring.


THANK YOU

 

[JohnParis]

Sorry Parser, it's either a misprint or a error in translation.

John

 

[Raymott]

Sorry Parser, it's either a misprint or a error in translation.

John

Or a hyper-correcting Russian writer.

 

[bhaisahab]

"On May 1, 1941, he "was immediately appointed Minister of State. This was not a job with only an elegant title and no real work. In fact in the September (of that year) he visited Moscow..."
I feel that the first "the" is acceptable, if we take "of that year" as understood. The second "the" is unnecessary IMO.

 

[5jj]

I agree with bhai that the first 'the' is acceptable I agree, too, that the second is not necessary, but I find it acceptable.

I do not think that either article is a mistake or hyper-correction; indeed, I think that the first is desirable.

 

[TheParser]

Thank you very much, Teacher JohnParis, VIP Member Raymott, and Moderator Bhaisahab for your replies.

The writer of that passage is described as "a [British] newspaperman for more than 50 years."

EDIT: Thank you very much, Moderator 5jj.

 

[emsr2d2]

In my opinion, they are used correctly. They serve to show that the writer is talking about different months falling in the same year.

In February 1985, I turned 16. In the January, I had been skiing. In the June and again in the September, I went on holiday to Greece. All in all, it was a great year!

 

[SoothingDave]

It sounds odd to me. I would say something like "That September" if I wasn't going to write the full "in September of that year" or "in September 1941."

 

[5jj]

Thi is perhaps another of those BrE/AmE differences that seem to be cropping up quite often at the moment.

 

[JohnParis]

Thi is perhaps another of those BrE/AmE differences that seem to be cropping up quite often at the moment.

I agree completely, and I am curious why these differences are coming to the surface now. This particular example is one I thought would not be questioned, and I am very surprised to see that the definite article is accepted use here. I have never seen this in print nor heard it spoken, but I'm quite pleased to learn something new. After all, if we can refer to a season as 'the summer', then it makes sense that we should be able to refer to the months in that season as the June, the July, the August and the September. It's going to take some getting used to, however.

John

 

[5jj]

It's going to take some getting used to, however.

If you have managed this far without it, I wouldn't worry too much.

I don't know why we all these differences are surfacing now. On the one hand, its a bit of a nuisance - one member will say one thing absolutely, only to have another member from the other side of the pond disagree a few minutes later. On the other hand, I find it very interesting, and we are all learning something new.