Kindly help!!

   Share on Facebook  
Anonymous  #474305  Fri, 08 Feb 08 09:43 AM

Going by (the) voting pattern(s) so far, the uncertain state of the US economy continues to be the main concern for voters from both parties

in the above sentence should article 'the' or not & it should be pattern or patterns kindly explain to clear my doubts

  
Yankee  #474345  Fri, 08 Feb 08 12:05 PM
Going by the voting pattern so far... =  OK.  This views all of the voting for this specific election as a whole

Going by the voting patterns so far... =  OK.  This might be used if the writer is viewing the voting in terms of individual states, for example.

Going by voting patterns so far... =  This is also possible, but the omission of 'the' makes 'voting patterns' less specific.
  
Top 25 Contributor
Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Senior Member (4,294)
ModeratorTeachers
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
AddThis Feed Button RSS Feed: ESL General English Grammar Questions
© 2008 MediaCET Ltd.
Terms and Conditions & Terms of Service