the phrase "Look at the quiz. Read only question 1. Circle your answer." has no any article with the word "question". I do not understand why. Why does the phrase "at the quiz" have one, but "only question" - has no? What are the similar situations when you use "null article" like this? It is a quite difficult issue for me since I'm Russian and we have another structure of a language which has no articles at all... By the way, has this question been composed correctly in a grammar point of view? Or, are there some things which look awkward or bizarre? Which ones? Sorry for being so verbose. Thanks by advance.
2007-07-03 07:48:36 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
You might regard the use of "Question 1" as similar to a title, as in "Read Tolstoy's 'War and Peace."
I have taught English to a great many Russian speakers and would be happy to help you with any other questions you may have.
2007-07-03 07:52:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I think the best answer you've been given is to think of "question 1" as a name. We would also say "Read Chapter 3" or "You'll find cookies in aisle 5" or "Part 2 of the movie wasn't as good." You could also say "the first question", "the fifth aisle", etc., in which case you would be describing, rather than naming. Then you'd need the "the" because by describing, you're specifying WHICH question or aisle.
"Read only" CAN as a previous answerer said be used as an adjective, but it isn't here. It's normally used in "read-only memory" but I suppose a "read-only question" (I'd use a hyphen) would be one in which you only have to read, and not write, or not listen, or even not answer.
Your English is great, but here are a couple things that I hope help rather than confuse you: "the phrase...has no any article": you can say "has no article" or "doesn't have any article" but not "no any" together. And, at the end, I'd say "from" rather than "in" a "grammar point of view".
2007-07-03 09:20:22 · answer #2 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The question is totally fine gramatically. With 'look' it has to take a preposition and it takes 'the' because it is the whole quiz. If it were quiz 2 of 5 the you would say 'look at quiz 2', no 'the'. 'Read only question 1' is similar to the number thing, because it is a direct object, if it were slightly different it would look like this: 'read the next question'. It seems as though numbers in this way take away the 'the'. But....you still say 'the' with something like 'read only the first question'. Hope this helped a bit, more reading in English should get you used to these things.
2007-07-03 07:56:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
In English, nouns and verbs can be used as adjectives (something different from 'adjectival noun' that someone mentioned before).
Instead of saying for example 'the belt of the seat', the noun 'seat' is placed before the noun 'belt' and functions as an adjective modifying the noun. If the sentence talks about several nouns (belts in this case), 'seat' will not change number because it behaves like an adjective and adjectives in English are invariable, so it would be 'seat belts'.
In your question, the word 'question' is the noun and 'read only' is the adjective and you never put an article between an adjective and the noun it's modifying.
"read only questions" means 'questions only to read' or 'questions only to be read' or something of the like.
If the questions are numbered, then they will say "read only question (number) 1", "read only question 2", "read only question 3" and so on...
It's a very peculiar way that English has to change the way words are used in the sentences.
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2007-07-03 08:22:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Think of "question 1" as one word or a name. Oddly, a better sentence structure would be something like, "Read only the first question," which would require an article. It is arcane, and it would be nice not to have to worry with articles (or the present tense of the verb "to be") but we get a trade-off in fewer declensions. At any rate, if you make minor errors in English in this area, eto nye vazhna.
2007-07-03 08:04:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have some good responses here regarding the specific question however, I just wanted to add that your grammar is wonderful. Many people who compose questions on Yahoo Answers are native English speakers and can barely construct a complete thought. You are doing very well.
2007-07-03 08:04:12 · answer #6 · answered by Jbuns 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In English we have something called the adjectival noun. A noun is used to describe another noun and here the important noun is "one" and "question" is used descriptively. That, at least, is how my brain understands it here. In your example, the word "quiz" stands on its own and is one particular quiz, hence the article. We often do this in English and this link gives you a few examples of how it is done. http://www.english-zone.com/grammar/adjective3.html
I'll try to think of a few further examples out of my head: fountain pen, feather duster, fur coat, tennis ball, reference book, mobile telephone.... I'm sure that you will be able to think of some too.
2007-07-03 07:57:09 · answer #7 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
English doesn't require an article like most languages!
2007-07-03 07:52:29 · answer #8 · answered by I have 0 characters to work with 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
An excellent job with the exception of the last line. Should be: 'Thanks IN advance.'
2007-07-03 08:15:55 · answer #9 · answered by achileen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i don't get your question.
2007-07-03 07:54:19 · answer #10 · answered by Lizzie 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋