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I have studied a grammar rule that states that-

A noun is always preceded by a determiner.

So-

Considering this 'John eats Mango' should be wrong. But I highly doubt it? Because what would I say if I want to state that out of certain choices of fruits John likes to eat mango?

Am I wrong?

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    Maybe we should make a community entry for "the rule is wrong", to use as a duplicate. It would quickly shoot to #1. – jimm101 Feb 09 '24 at 12:50
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    A more useful 'rule' is "A singular noun that is countable in the particular context is generally preceded by a determiner." – Shoe Feb 09 '24 at 13:17
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    Grammarians talk about "null determiners" in cases where there is no determiner, although that may not encompass all cases where there is no determiner(!) Regardless, not a good rule. – Stuart F Feb 09 '24 at 13:41
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    Where did you come across this grammar rule? – Joachim Feb 09 '24 at 22:52
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    Please edit to tell more about where you found this rule. Right now the only possible answer is "Nuh-uh," but if you give more info we might be able to address the misunderstanding. For now I'm voting to close with the "show your research or add context" reason; closed questions can be reopened after editing. – Andy Bonner Feb 09 '24 at 23:17
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    Article usage (never mind general determiner usage!) in English is very complex. Collins Cobuild have a monograph of over 100 pages solely on the former (and it misses some key elements, like use of indefinite article with non-count noun usages). But you certainly need to examine count vs noncount usages and plural vs singular usages, and proper noun usages. The 'rule' is hopelessly broad-brush. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 09 '24 at 23:41
  • Here is a recent explanation I wrote up that might help with this question https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/347189/why-the-teacher-but-not-necessarily-the-students/347196#347196 – Friendly Racoon Feb 13 '24 at 18:37

1 Answers1

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I don't know where you got that rule from but: no, obviously not.

"John eats mango" is a perfectly good sentence, made much clearer if you substitute "meat" for "mango". There needs to be no determiner before "mango". "John" is also a noun, and is not preceded by a determiner.

I suspect what the writer meant to say was: if there is a determiner it always goes before the noun.

DJClayworth
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