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Latest post Sun, Oct 25 2009 3:37 PM by Grammar Geek. 3 replies.
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seroMack  +  952351 Sun, 25 Oct 09 09:41 AM
"I live in a small house with my parents and my brother and sister"


In the sentence above, are supposed to use and article or a possessive pronoun before brother and sister?


...or while talking about father...


"I have a father. My father is a sculptor. I always talk to my/the father when I want to ask him something."


Do we need to use a definite article or a possessive pronoun?


and one more...


If somebody plays an instrument, can we say: "My favorite instrument is a cello and I play on it" Is this ON article correct?
seroMack
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seroMack
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Cool Breeze  +  952514 Sun, 25 Oct 09 01:59 PM

seroMack
“"I live in a small house with my parents and my brother and sister"”

The sentence is correct but you could shorten it: I live in a small house with my parents, brother and sister.

seroMack
“I have a father.”

Correct again, but rather odd. I don't know anybody that doesn't have a father, either dead or alive.

seroMack
“My father is a sculptor. I always talk to my/the father when I want to ask him something."”

Don't use the when you talk about your own father or mother. You could say: I talk to him when I want... (I don't understand how you could ask your father a question if you didn't talk to him, though. Perhaps you could e-mail him...

seroMack
“"My favorite instrument is a the cello and I can play on it"”
)

I can play the piano.

He can't play the guitar. (But: He can play chess.)
He played that song on the piano.

CB
Cool Breeze
Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006
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"I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991
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seroMack  +  952561 Sun, 25 Oct 09 02:46 PM
Cool Breeze
“

Correct again, but rather odd. I don't know anybody that doesn't have a father, either dead or alive.

seroMack
“My father is a sculptor. I always talk to my/the father when I want to ask him something.

”


OK, but if I'd want to emphasize it? You know, e.g. to convince somebody that. I know it's sort of silly, I'm asking for grammatical correctness.


Cool Breeze
“Don't use the when you talk about your own father or mother. You could say: I talk to him when I want... (I don't understand how you could ask your father a question if you didn't talk to him, though. Perhaps you could e-mail him...”


Yes, you're right and actually I knew that but I was curious if one could use a word father  without any article/pronoun.


Thanks for clearing the rest!

seroMack
Grammar Geek  +  952608 Sun, 25 Oct 09 03:37 PM
No, "father" needs either an article or possessive pronoun.

His father, my father, the father and his son...


If you actually call him "Father" (like I say "Dad") the capitalize it, without the article.



"Father, where would you like to for dinner tonight?" - a direct form of address. 
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Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!
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