Subj : articles are a good subject
To   : Anton Shepelev
From : alexander koryagin
Date : Thu Oct 05 2017 18:18:51

Hi, Anton Shepelev!
I read your message from  05.10.2017 00:18
about articles are a good subject.


 AK> Which article should be before "heart" below?

 AK>   1.  Meldonimum  is  a  drag  to   make   heart
 AK>       healthy.
 AK>   2.  Meldonimum  is  a  drag  to make the heart
 AK>       healthy.  (A human have only heart?)
 AK>   3.  Meldonimum is  a  drag  to  make  a  heart
 AK>       healthy.

 AS> Although it is easy for me to agree with the native speakers in
 AS> that "the heart" is the right choice, to explain why is quite
 AS> another kettle of cod. Now that I try to rationalize and verbalize
 AS> my intuitive understanding, messems the sentence answers the
 AS> question: "Which organ of the human body does meldonium
 AS> affect/stimulate/regulate?" Since it is a choice of an element from
 AS> a known and finite set, that element is well-definied. "the heart"
 AS> refers to the general idea of the heart (as distict from the brain
 AS> or the stomach), whereas "a heart" would denote not the idea but
 AS> the very real heart of some (undefinite) man. Think Platonic ideas
 AS> and forms. You need *a* keen mind to understand the distinction.

 AS> Further to muddy the matter, bethink yourself of the zero article
 AS> in Mark Twain's reductionist "What is Man?"

I also invent reasoning why we should say "Justice is important for the 
tennis." But logic and English often located rather far. It is easier to find a 
rule:

https://www.englishpage.com/articles/advanced-articles.htm
-----Beginning of the citation-----
USE 16

English speakers often use THE plus a singular noun when they talk about or 
make generalizations about certain topics, including:

musical instruments (the piano, the guitar, the flute)
plants (the coconut palm, the saguaro, the baobab)
animals (the leopard, the elephant, the lowland gorilla)
inventions (the steam engine, the plane, the light bulb)
currencies (the dollar, the euro, the yen)
body parts (the head, the eye, the ear)
----- The end of the citation -----

Bye, Anton!
Alexander Koryagin
ENGLISH_TUTOR 2017

--- Paul's Win98SE VirtualBox
 * Origin: Quinn's Post - Maryborough, Queensland, OZ (3:640/384)

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