Usage of articles (As ... captain of ... ship, I have ... complete authority)

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,
Please have a look at this question:

As … captain of … ship, I have … complete authority
a. no word - the - no word
b. the - a - no word
c. the - the - the
d. no word - a - the
==>> The answer in the book is a, but I suppose a and b make more sense. What do you think?

Many thanks
Nessie

2

With no context given, both (a) and (b) could be right.

It would also be possible to say, “As captain of a ship, I have complete authority.”

3

Thanks Jamie. So in a nutshell, these are correct, right?

  • As the captain of the ship, I have the complete authority
  • As the captain of the ship, I have complete authority
  • As the captain of a ship, I have the complete authority
  • As the captain of a ship, I have complete authority
  • As captain of the ship, I have the complete authority
  • As captain of the ship, I have complete authority
  • As captain of a ship, I have the complete authority
  • As captain of a ship, I have complete authority

:):slight_smile:

So… is there any slight difference among them?
Many thanks
Nessie

4

I don’t like the sentences that say “the complete authority”, even though I don’t think “the complete authority” is technically wrong.

The only difference in meaning among the sentences involves the difference between “a ship” and “the ship”.

5

I agree that context would make a difference. Without context, I would default to:

  1. As captain of this ship, I have complete authority.

MrP

6

So the only difference among them involves ths difference between “a ship” and “the ship”?
And that means “a captain”, “the captain”, “captain” as well as “complete authority”, “the complete authority” are completely the same?

7

Nessie, they’re so similar that it’s next to impossible to explain what the difference might be.

8

Thanks Jamie. Now thinking over the test question again, perhaps I know what’s in your mind ;):wink: