0

If we have several items to mention, which should be separated with or, is this correct to use the for each one? Could it be possible to use one "the" to distribute among them?

For example, which of the following questions is proper?

When we teach this unit, should we focus on the textbook or the presentation?

or

When we teach this unit, should we focus on the textbook or presentation?

This question differs from the question put in the topic: Is it necessary to use "the" multiple times?, since the separation by the conjunction or has not been addressed in this topic.

Community
  • 1
Saj_Eda
  • 223
  • 4
  • 11
  • Firstly, the definite article belongs to the noun following it and unrelated to the conjunction use: of the idealism or the materialism is grammatical and has its uses. However, in the present example, the use of definite article seems incorrect. The concepts are idealism and materialism -- no the before them. – Kris Aug 09 '15 at 10:24
  • 1
    Please also visit [ell.se] – Kris Aug 09 '15 at 10:24
  • The examples have been changed to better clarify the question. – Saj_Eda Aug 09 '15 at 10:32
  • The articles *still* don't sound belong here. It should be "should we focus on idealism or materialism?" This is because idealism and materialism are uncountable nouns. – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 11:25
  • 2
    @Kris: Articles *do* distribute: "the dog and cat" is just as correct as "the dog and the cat". See Ngram. – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 11:28
  • @PeterShor An example from LDOCE5: the idealism of the younger generation – Saj_Eda Aug 09 '15 at 11:29
  • @Sara Winslet: In that example, you have "of the younger generation" after "idealism", which means you can put "the" before it, because now you're talking about a specific instance of idealism. – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 11:31
  • @PeterShor: The nouns are changed. – Saj_Eda Aug 09 '15 at 11:44
  • When you say "presentation" what do you mean? Presentation of what? Without the what this is just bad writing that has everyone spinning their wheels. Also, how is the textbook related to the unit? – michael_timofeev Aug 09 '15 at 14:41
  • Now that you have a reasonable sentence, I can give you my answer. Yes, you can leave out the second the. – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 17:02
  • There are "preferred" schemes, but no hard and fast rules. In particular, even in cases where only one article may be required, the writer may instead choose to repeat it for emphasis. – Hot Licks Aug 09 '15 at 19:27
  • @PeterShor Hope by now you have the things clearer. Do they? :) – Kris Aug 11 '15 at 07:12

3 Answers3

2

The can be distributed as provided in the second sentence, so that it is used only once. A similar question on Stack Exchange can be found here.

Community
  • 1
Churamani
  • 139
  • That question asks about the A and* the B. This one asks about the A or the B*. I don't think you can use that question as a reference for this one. – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 16:51
  • 1
    @PeterShor Why would conjunction reduction apply to only one of the two most common coordinating conjunctions but not the other? – tchrist Aug 09 '15 at 16:53
  • @tchrist: grammar is weird; it might not. (Although in this case, I believe it does.) – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 17:01
0

The citation is from Michael Swan Practical English Usage.

When expressions are joined by and,but,or,*we often leave out repeated articles.

A knife and (a) fork

A knife or (a) fork

When double expressions are preceded by prepositions, the articles can altogether be dropped.

with knife or fork

Turkan Alisoy
  • 655
-2

To answer some of the other comments, the articles do belong there, consider

"When we teach this unit, should we focus on textbook or presentation?"

since it is a "specific" unit being discussed. If it were a general unit,

"When we teach units, should we focus on textbook or presentation"

would be fine, since both "textbook" and "presentation" are generic. I would argue that the sentence really needs "either" ...

"When we teach this unit, should we focus on either the textbook or the presentation?"

jamspandex
  • 17
  • Adding either to that question makes it sound like there's a third alternative ( namely, don't use either one). That doesn't mean the same thing at all. – Peter Shor Aug 09 '15 at 16:53
  • Hi, if there were a third alternative, it would be "When we teach this unit, should we focus on either the textbook, the presentation, or alternative X?" Could you explain why you think it sounds is there is a third option? ie How is if different from "would you like either a hot drink, or a cold drink?" – jamspandex Aug 10 '15 at 18:35
  • The way I understand this, if you ask somebody "would you like to work on either* the project report or the personnel file", you are implicitly giving them an option to say neither one. Whereas if you leave out the either*, you are telling them to pick one or the other. – Peter Shor Aug 10 '15 at 18:53