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Tom and Julia are (husband and wife) or (a husband and wife)
The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are InWhy do we say ‘I have “a” husband (wife)?The article: communicative functionA question of articles!Can indefinite article refer to anything within a list?More zero article bafflementOmission of the indefinite article to eliminate ambiguityCan I use “an” before plural noun?Articles before abstract nounsWhy should an article be placed before “business lunch or dinner?”Use singular or plural in lists of compound nouns like “the English and French teacher(s)”?
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I saw this sentence in a book:
Tom, 45, and Julia, 40, are husband and wife.
It sounded natural to me not to use the article (a) before husband and wife. But I need to know the grammatical explanation. Can anyone help please.
Thanks
articles
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I saw this sentence in a book:
Tom, 45, and Julia, 40, are husband and wife.
It sounded natural to me not to use the article (a) before husband and wife. But I need to know the grammatical explanation. Can anyone help please.
Thanks
articles
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
This is all tangled up in the messy topic of when to use (or not use) "the indefinite article". A lot has to do with context.
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
add a comment |
I saw this sentence in a book:
Tom, 45, and Julia, 40, are husband and wife.
It sounded natural to me not to use the article (a) before husband and wife. But I need to know the grammatical explanation. Can anyone help please.
Thanks
articles
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I saw this sentence in a book:
Tom, 45, and Julia, 40, are husband and wife.
It sounded natural to me not to use the article (a) before husband and wife. But I need to know the grammatical explanation. Can anyone help please.
Thanks
articles
articles
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 6 hours ago
Mohammad Hamad
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
asked 7 hours ago
Mohammad HamadMohammad Hamad
183
183
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
This is all tangled up in the messy topic of when to use (or not use) "the indefinite article". A lot has to do with context.
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
add a comment |
This is all tangled up in the messy topic of when to use (or not use) "the indefinite article". A lot has to do with context.
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
This is all tangled up in the messy topic of when to use (or not use) "the indefinite article". A lot has to do with context.
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
This is all tangled up in the messy topic of when to use (or not use) "the indefinite article". A lot has to do with context.
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
It's an idiom.
In idioms articles are often omitted.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
idiom
husband and wife
: a married couple
// They were husband and wife for almost 60 years.
And have a look at this.
It adds some statistics to the previous information.
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
1
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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oldest
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
It's an idiom.
In idioms articles are often omitted.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
idiom
husband and wife
: a married couple
// They were husband and wife for almost 60 years.
And have a look at this.
It adds some statistics to the previous information.
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
1
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
add a comment |
It's an idiom.
In idioms articles are often omitted.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
idiom
husband and wife
: a married couple
// They were husband and wife for almost 60 years.
And have a look at this.
It adds some statistics to the previous information.
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
1
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
add a comment |
It's an idiom.
In idioms articles are often omitted.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
idiom
husband and wife
: a married couple
// They were husband and wife for almost 60 years.
And have a look at this.
It adds some statistics to the previous information.
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
It's an idiom.
In idioms articles are often omitted.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
idiom
husband and wife
: a married couple
// They were husband and wife for almost 60 years.
And have a look at this.
It adds some statistics to the previous information.
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
edited 6 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
answered 7 hours ago
user307254user307254
4,7772517
4,7772517
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
1
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
add a comment |
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
1
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
Oh that was a quick answer, many thanks. I had looked it up on google but never as an idiom. It makes sense now.
– Mohammad Hamad
7 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
The fact that it's "husband and wife" has little to do with it. The same issues would arise with "doctor and patient".
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago
1
1
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
I know M-W defines husband and wife as an idiom, but I'd dispute this, as it doesn't fit M-W's own definition of idiom: the meaning is readily deducible from the words, and the grammar isn't peculiar to this one expression [as @HotLicks notes, and I'd add "friend and foe", "master and servant", "brother and sister", "predator and prey", etc]. The reason for no determiner is more to do with it being problematic to have a determiner just for the first element of a pair of nouns, and too wordy as "a husband and his wife".
– Chappo
3 hours ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
Perhaps the are nouns used as adjectives, comparable to “black and blue” in “my knees were black and blue.”
– Xanne
22 mins ago
add a comment |
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammad Hamad is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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This is all tangled up in the messy topic of when to use (or not use) "the indefinite article". A lot has to do with context.
– Hot Licks
6 hours ago