Subj : articles are a good subject
To   : Anton Shepelev
From : alexander koryagin
Date : Mon Oct 09 2017 17:16:48

Hi, Anton Shepelev!
I read your message from 07.10.2017 00:05

<skipped>
 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
 AS>>> verbalize my intuitive understanding, messems the sentence
 AS>>> answers the question: "Which organ of the human body does
 AS>>> meldonium affect/stimulate/regulate?" Since it is a choice of an
 AS>>> element from a known and finite set, that element is well-
 AS>>> definied. "the heart" refers to the general idea of the heart (as
 AS>>> distict from the brain or the stomach), whereas "a heart" would
 AS>>> denote not the idea but the very real heart of some (undefinite)
 AS>>> man. Think Platonic ideas and forms. You need *a* keen mind to
 AS>>> understand the distinction.

 AS>>> Further to muddy the matter, bethink yourself of the zero article
 AS>>> in Mark Twain's reductionist "What is Man?"
 AK>> I also can invent reasoning why we should say "Justice is
 AK>> important for the tennis."
 AS> Say what?

"Tennis" is normally used without articles, nobody says "the tennis" even 
speaking of a general idea. Following "tennis logic" we can say "heart" without 
article. For instance, "Heart is the most important organ."

 AS> Why do you dismiss my explanation as mere invention, ignoring the
 AS> argumentation I provide? Have you any objections?

No, I don't, I see you a have a point speaking about "general idea" etc. Truly 
speaking, I was interested only in two variants: "the heart" and the form 
without any article.

<skipped>
 AK>> It is easier to find a rule:
 AK>> https://www.englishpage.com/articles/advanced-articles.htm

 AS> The worse for the rule, for the right thing is rarely the easiest,
 AS> cf. "economy of thought." Such rules as you cite are boring and
 AS> ubelievable because they never take the labour of improving one's
 AS> understanding through explanation and reason. Their authors treat
 AS> the reader as a dumb slave who must heedlessly accept anything he
 AS> is told and is incapable of having an opinion.

"boring and ubelievable" -- why "unbelievable"?

The main advantage of reading the rules is that you always know the place where 
to refresh your knowledge, in case you forgot something. This must be 
supplemented by reading real English texts, of course. There you see not only a 
good text, but also acceptable deviations from the rules. For instance, if you 
read "on board the ship", you need not to turn your logic on and ask why 
"board" is without any article.

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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