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According to one article reference book, it says we can omit articles (a, an, the) in front of the second, third,… nouns. Is it really acceptable from native English speakers' point of view? Is it really grammatically correct and allowed in writing? The book says it is so clear that each item (noun) is a different item, so we do not need to repeat the article.

Example 1:

I bought a lemon, melon, and pineapple.

Example 2:

I asked her to pass me the pen, eraser, and pencil sharpener.

I understand we can definitely place "a" in front of each noun, but could placing the articles (a, the) be redundant?

tchrist
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RON
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  • Bottom line: this 'rule' is, as is usually the case, a rule of thumb. In many cases, omitting subsequent a's would lead to an unnatural-sounding variant. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 01 '15 at 11:09

2 Answers2

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Leaving out the articles is grammatical. But we're more likely to leave out repeated definite articles than indefinite ones. See Ngram. And we're much more likely to leave out the article when the items are connected. For example, Ngram shows "a car and trailer" is more common than "a car and a trailer"; but "a car and house" is less common than "a car and a house" (although both forms are used in both cases).

And while "he gave me a box of chocolates and bouquet of roses" sounds fine to me, I think you really should put two articles in "he gave me an octopus and bouquet of roses".

Peter Shor
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The answer is different for the two sentences.

In the first, you were buying items from among (presumably) many. Many melons, many lemons, many pineapples. So, for each kind of fruit, you picked one, previously unspecified. You need the indefinite article "a" for each fruit:

  • I bought a melon, a lemon and a pineapple.

In the second, it might be that there was only one each of pen, eraser, and pencil sharpener (or only one that she had, or had access to.) In that case, "the" can distribute across all three items, exactly as you wrote the sentence.

  • I asked her to pass me the pen, eraser and pencil sharpener.

However, if you knew, for instance, that there was only one pencil sharpener, but several pens and erasers she might hand you:

  • I asked her to pass me a pen, an eraser and the pencil sharpener.
Brian Hitchcock
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    You've made this up! – Araucaria - Him Sep 01 '15 at 10:14
  • Are you saying it's not true? – Brian Hitchcock Sep 01 '15 at 10:18
  • Yes, the first sentence is awkward but not ungrammatical. There are lots of examples of co-ordinated nouns with a single indefinite article. See, for example, "a knife, fork and spoon". :) – Araucaria - Him Sep 01 '15 at 10:21
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    Or, for example, these well known joke intros – Araucaria - Him Sep 01 '15 at 10:23
  • Not only is it awkward, it's ambiguous. He might have bought three cans of pineapple for all we know. – Brian Hitchcock Sep 01 '15 at 10:30
  • Though this answer might be original, there is some truth in it. I don't think I'd ever use 'I bought a lemon, melon, and pineapple.' But I'd not be unhappy with 'Bring a knife, fork and spoon.' It's probably connected to the degree of collocation (or at least the cohesiveness of the elements of the list). ?/*'Bring a knife, fork, and cactus.' There are probably borderline cases (perhaps some people think these are). – Edwin Ashworth Sep 01 '15 at 11:04
  • I still do not get what is right for the use of articles in both examples. Would it be the best and always correct if I place the article (either "a(an)" or "the") in front of each noun? Is what my reference book saying wrong? – RON Sep 01 '15 at 11:10
  • Have you noticed that two fully-paid-up anglophones don't seem to agree on where 'I bought a melon, lemon, and pineapple.' is on the 'acceptability scale'? I'd bet that neither would use ??'Bring a knife, fork, and cactus.' unless they were in a very whimsical mood. The 'acceptability' of some sentences is assessed by the voting of a prestigious panel, and there's rarely a consensus. Here, 'We can omit articles ...' is not always sound advice. But that means that you have to assess individual cases. Maths is easier; there's usually a right answer. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 01 '15 at 11:15
  • @BrianHitchcock I agree that the first is ambiguous as well as awkward ... – Araucaria - Him Sep 01 '15 at 11:22
  • With regard to "the", is it okay to place "the" before each noun (i.e., the pen, the eraser, and the pencil sharpener)? Or is it too redundant? – RON Sep 01 '15 at 11:45
  • Yes, it's OK; there's nothing wrong with being explicit. Provided there really is only one pen, one eraser, and one pencil sharpener available to her. – Brian Hitchcock Sep 02 '15 at 08:58