[Grammar] Using the articles while listing

[Sskall]

Hello there!
I am wondering if I have to use an article before every noun while listing. For instance, when I am listing some specific car parts in a sentence like this:

-This car has many high-quality parts including the shifter, the seats, the engine, and the steering wheel.

Another article-related thing that really bothers me is if I have to use the article "the" with both nouns while using "both" like in the following sentence:

-Both the sifter and the steering wheel are good.

 

[jutfrank]

Are you talking about speaking or writing? If you're talking about writing, do you want to list those things as part of a prose sentence? If so, why? If not, what kind of text is it?

For your second question—you don't "have to" but you should, yes.

As a general rule, use an article before every noun because that way it's always clear what you mean. We do tend to omit articles when listing, but only when the reference is so obvious that omitting them does not impede understanding. The most common reason that it is obvious is that we're referring to each item in the same way each time.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hello there!
I am wondering if I have to use an article before every noun while listing. For instance, when I am listing some specific car parts in a sentence like this:

-This car has many high-quality parts including the shifter, the seats, the engine, and the steering wheel.

Another article-related thing that really bothers me is if I have to use the article "the" with both nouns while using "both" like in the following sentence:

-Both the shifter and the steering wheel are good.

It's a matter of taste.

I would use the only once in each sentence. It's less wordy. But they're correct and natural either way.

 

[jutfrank]

It's a matter of taste.

I don't think so. It's a matter of economy, more than anything else.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't think so. It's a matter of economy, more than anything else.

I have economical tastes.

I've been reading a book of George Orwell's letters and articles. In one place, he says: "[F]or my part, I like a florid style: If your motto is "Cut out the adjectives", why not go a bit further and revert to a system of grunts and squeals, like the animals?"

So I'll stand by "taste."

PS - I just deleted "big" before "book." How's that for economical!