grammar help: '--design popular in the 19th century or -- a design popular in the 19th century'? with or w/o a

Question

The whole sentence is: "the mask is meticulously decorated by delicate patterns carved in high relief -- design popular in the 19th century.' Should I change the last sentence to 'a design popular in the 19th century' instead? Is the 'a' necessary?

Answer 1

I would change 'by' to 'with'. By would refer to the carver or artist. You then have to decide what you are refering to - the delicate patterns or the high relief carving. If the former, you need to give some description of the patterns to use the 'a design---' option. If the latter, the 'high relief', I would change 'design' to 'technique'. It would then read, 'the mask is meticulously decorated with delicate patterns carved in high relief -- a technique popular in the 19th century'.
When a passage is taken out of context, it is not always possible to understand the intentions of the writer. I hope this may be of some help.

Answer 2

Yes you should use an a. When to use a and the in front of a noun is tricky and confusing sometimes it's grammar, sometimes style. Say you were writing, "John and Susan were walking in the wood and John pointed to an object and said to Susan, it's a bear." No punch right? But if you wrote John and Susan were walking in the woods and John pointed and shouted "Bear!"" You know he is surprised and perhaps frightened. But in this case think of it this way, without the "a" the word design could be thought of as a verb.

Answer 3

Use the "a." You are writing about one type of design that was popular at that time. Notice that you can substitute "one" for the "a," and the sentence still makes sense.

Answer 4

The 'A' is not necessary. I'm British, and the sentence appears to make complete sense to me..... Go with what you've written.

It's quite literary, and is completelely acceptable, so good luck and please don't doubt yourself so much. :oD

Answer 5

Yes. 'a' sounds better.

Answer 6

Use the "a"