[Grammar] ... Moody's, the credit rating agency, ... ?

[cubezero3]

According to Moody's, the credit rating agency, a delay in bond payments would not necessarily be considered a default ... .

Hello, everyone.

I think the use of the definite article here is not the best choice, in that Moody's is not the agency that rate the creditworthiness of countries.

Many Thanks

Richard

 

[5jj]

'a credit agency' would imply that the writer assumed that readers had never heard of Moody's; s/he was telling readers what Moody's was.
'the credit agency' would imply that readers had heard of Moody's, but might be unsure whether it was Moody's (Credit Agency) or, for example, Moody's (Bank) that was being mentioned.

 

[cubezero3]

Would it be wrong for me to favour the indefinite article over the definite one, on the basis that although Woody's is probably a well-known name, there is Standard & Poor's out there too.

It would be difficult to image Standard & Poor's not giving Greece a rating. So, with the use of the indefinite article, the sentence could be understood as According to Moody's, a credit rating agency (that has rated Greece along side with other agencies) ... .

 

[5jj]

Would it be wrong for me to favour the indefinite article over the definite one, on the basis that although Woody's is probably a well-known name, there is Standard & Poor's out there too.
You are free to do what you prefer, I was commenting on what was possibly in the mind of the person who wrote the words you quoted in post #1

It would be difficult to image Standard & Poor's not giving Greece a rating. So, with the use of the indefinite article, the sentence could be understood as According to Moody's, a credit rating agency (that has rated Greece along side with other agencies) ... .
You are writing with the knowledge of a context that I do not have. I can't comment on what I can't see.

5

 

[Ouisch]

This is a situation where both "the" and "a" are correct. Moody's is a credit rating agency. However, perhaps there are other companies/organizations named Moody's? Using "the" in this case indicates that you are specifying that the Moody's mentioned isn't (for example) the pharmacy chain store prevalent in a certain geographic area but rather the international credit rating agency.

 

[AlexAD]

This is a situation where both "the" and "a" are correct. Moody's is a credit rating agency. However, perhaps there are other companies/organizations named Moody's? Using "the" in this case indicates that you are specifying that the Moody's mentioned isn't (for example) the pharmacy chain store prevalent in a certain geographic area but rather the international credit rating agency.

You say that the definite article determines the Moody's. To me, as well as 'credit rating agency' does. I would say the last part indicates that in a more clear way because it can be hardly belived that there are two companies that share the same name in some particular industry.

 

[5jj]

.. it can be hardly believed that there are two companies that share the same name in some particular industry.

How about the genericized trademark of Webster's Dictionary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia?