Hi,
The following is taken from a CNN article. Why doesn't the boldfaced phrase have a definite article? Is it that the phrase is describing a role like "sales manager" and thus doesn't need an article?
Dubbed savior of the movies by Steven Spielberg himself, Cruise concluded his speech on Sunday by saying, “See you at the movies.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/0...plane-mtv/index.html
I'd appreciate your help.
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Hi, Ramondaliasapollyon. According to "Practicle English Usage" by Michael Swan, in certain constructions, the name of positions that people can occupy are used without articles. For example, Elizabeth II, Queen of England./ They elected George chairman./ Henry was made captain of the team./ He was elected President for the third time./ Mr. Lewis was appointed chief clerk in 1968.
Note (i）the name of the position is the complement, not the subject of the sentence (You cannot say "Chairman came to lunch", with no article) (ii) these are all "unique positions -- there is only one Queen of England, only one captain of the team.
Thank you, f6pafd.
One thing I am quite unsure of is what qualifies as names of positions.
Expressions such as "chairman" and "sales manager" clearly denote positions, since people get paid for doing the work of sales manager or chairman, but does "winner of the competition" qualify?
Is it okay to say, "He was named winner of the competition"?
And in what sense does "savior of the movies" denote a position?
In Practical English Usage, Michael Swan has only mentioned "the name of positions. In fact, in a broader sense, some titles or identifying names are also included, such as hero, winner, etc. when used in certain constructions.
@raymondaliasapollyon posted:
Dubbed savior of the movies by Steven Spielberg himself, Cruise concluded his speech on Sunday by saying, “See you at the movies.”
@raymondaliasapollyon posted:One thing I am quite unsure of is what qualifies as names of positions.
Expressions such as "chairman" and "sales manager" clearly denote positions, since people get paid for doing the work of sales manager or chairman, but does "winner of the competition" qualify?
Is it okay to say, "He was named winner of the competition"?
And in what sense does "savior of the movies" denote a position?
Hi, Ray—Perhaps Steven Spielberg did not mean to dub Tom Cruise as THE savior of the movies but rather as A savior of the movies. If so, the dubbing act, or the titular effect thereof, need not involve either article.
Imagine someone who is dubbed manager. There are countless managers in the world. If someone said, "I hereby dub you manager," that would not imply that he was the only manager in the world, or even of a certain company.
