Why no "the" here?

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Anonymous

#201782 Tue, 28 Feb 06 11:06 AM

I have a sentence from a product guide. P/S tell me why there is no "the" there?

Keep out of (no the??) reach of children.

Anonymous

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CalifJim

#202047 Wed, 01 Mar 06 06:22 AM

There should be a "the". There would be a "the" in normal style.
However, this appears to be a special case of telegraphic style, often used in instructions for the use of a product (as well as in other situations, like newspaper headlines).
In telegraphic style words which are less important and can be easily guessed by the reader are omitted. The articles are usually the first to go!

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

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Xess

#202837 Fri, 03 Mar 06 02:17 PM

It's the convention used for instructions, especially those in instruction manuals to leave out all articles. I suppose it saves space and it's actually easier to understand without articles because 'the' is only meaningful if both the speaker/writer and the listener/reader know what the 'the' refers to. Since the reader may be unsure what the 'the' is about, it just becomes more natural to leave it out when giving written instructions.

Xess

Joined on Sat, Feb 25 2006

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Anonymous

#202856 Fri, 03 Mar 06 03:47 PM

Thank you. Beside the headlines and as you said, the instructions, what other times would you omit articles and what justification would you give to leaving out other types of articles like "a" and "an"?

Anonymous

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