'part of' or 'a part of'

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Cateran

#169838 Wed, 14 Dec 05 02:41 PM

Hi,

1. Part of the building was destroyed in the fire.

2. A part of the building was destroyed in the fire.

Which sentence is correct? In addition, is there any difference between 'part of' and 'a part of'?

Cateran

Joined on Tue, Oct 18 2005

Junior Member (59)

Difference between

X11

#169847 Wed, 14 Dec 05 03:16 PM

Hello Cateran.

I know that sentence 1 is the correct one since part of does not take on the indefinite article a

Actually I do not know for sure whether or not it can take on the indefinite article, hence I am not sure whether it is possible to say a part of??? Anyone knows?

X11

Joined on Tue, Nov 1 2005

Aarhus, Denmark

Full Member (120)

Teahupoo - A Spectacle Beyond Imagination

pieanne

#169868 Wed, 14 Dec 05 05:36 PM

I understand it as follows:

"a part of the school": a specific part: the kitchens, the dormitory, the sciences lab...

"part of the school": not all of it, but maybe half of the kitchen, one dormitory floor, etc...

pieanne

Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005

South of France ...But I'm Belgian!

Veteran Member (7,512)

I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

X11

#169883 Wed, 14 Dec 05 06:41 PM

Hmm, I understand it differently. Normally (very often) the indefinite article A is dropped before part of if there is no adjective.

Part of the roof was missing - Here there is no adjective, hence no article

A large part of the roof was missing - Here there is an adjective, hence the article.

This is how I am familiar with the phrase - part of - but correct me if I am wrong.

X11

Articles, Indefinite articles, Definite articles