MSGID: 2:221/360.0 5db92ffa   
   REPLY: 2:221/360.0 5db84856   
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   CHRS: LATIN-1 2   
   TZUTC: 0200   
   Hi, Anton Shepelev!   
   I read your message from 29.10.2019 17:10   
      
    AK>> I read this:   
    AK>> Annabel and Midge had been best friends almost from the day that   
    AK>> Midge had found a job as stenographer with the firm that employed   
    AK>> Annabel.   
      
    AK>> How can I explain to my conscience the absence of "a"   
    AK>> before "stenographer"? ;)   
      
    AS> On my way to work I have encountered a difficult case in Oscar   
    AS> Wilde's play "An Ideal Husband":   
      
    AS> Mabel Chiltern:  But it is for an excellent charity: in aid   
    AS>    of the Undeserving, the only people I am really   
    AS>    interested in.  I am the secretary, and Tommy Trafford is   
    AS>    treasurer.   
      
    AS> Mrs. Cheveley: And what is Lord Goring?   
    AS> Mabel Chiltern: Oh! Lord Goring is president.   
    AS> How can you explain "the secretary", "treasurer", and "president"?   
      
   AFAIR, you can omit an article in pairs divided by "and". I mean "the" before   
   "secretary" implies "the" before "treasurer".   
      
   Similar we can omit "to" before verbs:   
      
   "I want to read and write."   
      
   As for president - my textbook says an article is unnecessary in official job   
   titles, if there is only one person holding this position at any given time.   
      
   For instance, "George Osborne is (the) Chancellor of the Exchequer."   
      
   In this case positions start with a capital letter, usually.   
      
   Alexander Koryagin   
   english_tutor 2019   
      
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