Hi there!

I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
article before the object.

My parents weren't cooking dinner.
My parents weren't cooking the dinner.

Thank you in advanced,

On 6/26/2018 4:28 PM, l not -l wrote:
> On 26-Jun-2018, lid (ciavelillse)
> wrote:
>
>> Hi there!
>>
>> I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
>> article before the object.
>>
>> My parents weren't cooking dinner.
>> My parents weren't cooking the dinner. >
> Maybe it's like hospital. In UK they say, "in hospital", in US we say "in
> the hospital". Maybe it's as simple as nations being separated by a common
> language. 8-)
>
Oh good! A summer school assignment! Here's a clue for the OP. No one
in normal conversation actually breaks down the parts of speech into
articles and objects. No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
about dangling participles.

The real question on this NG is did his/her parents cook dinner and if
so, what? If not, why not?

Jill

In article >, says...
>
> On 26-Jun-2018, lid (ciavelillse)
> wrote:
>
> > Hi there!
> >
> > I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
> > article before the object.
> >
> > My parents weren't cooking dinner.
> > My parents weren't cooking the dinner.
> Maybe it's like hospital. In UK they say, "in hospital", in US we say "in
> the hospital".

In UK we use both.

Jim is in hospital having some treatment.
Dr Jones works in the hospital.

Janet UK.

On 6/26/2018 3:57 PM, Janet wrote:
> In article >, says...
>>
>> On 26-Jun-2018, lid (ciavelillse)
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi there!
>>>
>>> I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
>>> article before the object.
>>>
>>> My parents weren't cooking dinner.
>>> My parents weren't cooking the dinner.
>> Maybe it's like hospital. In UK they say, "in hospital", in US we say "in
>> the hospital".
>
> In UK we use both.
>
> Jim is in hospital having some treatment.
> Dr Jones works in the hospital.
>
> Janet UK.
>


But would you say

Jim is in the hospital having some treatment
Dr Jones works in hospital

??

On 6/26/2018 1:09 PM, ciavelillse wrote:
> Hi there!
>
> I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
> article before the object.
>
> My parents weren't cooking dinner.
> My parents weren't cooking the dinner.
>
> Thank you in advanced,
>


sounds like someone else was cooking the dinner.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 02:08:32 -0500, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>On Tue, 26 Jun 2018 15:09:48 -0500, ciavelillse wrote:
>
>> Hi there!
>>
>> I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
>> article before the object.
>>
>> My parents weren't cooking dinner.
>> My parents weren't cooking the dinner.
>
>Ahem. From Giganews.
>
>> Thank you in advanced,
>
>Ohhh, nice touch!
>
>**** off unless you have a question about cooking or eating
>something.

Uh-oh, I think somebody needs another Reuben!

"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

On 6/26/2018 4:28 PM, l not -l wrote:
> On 26-Jun-2018, lid (ciavelillse)
> wrote:
>
>> Hi there!
>>
>> I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
>> article before the object.
>>
>> My parents weren't cooking dinner.
>> My parents weren't cooking the dinner. >
> Maybe it's like hospital. In UK they say, "in hospital", in US we say
> "in
> the hospital". Maybe it's as simple as nations being separated by a
> common
> language. 8-)
>
Oh good! A summer school assignment! Here's a clue for the OP. No one
in normal conversation actually breaks down the parts of speech into
articles and objects. No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
about dangling participles.

The real question on this NG is did his/her parents cook dinner and if
so, what? If not, why not?

Jill

==

Maybe because they preferred to cook the dinner ... ;p

Sqwertz wrote:
>jmcquown wrote:
>
>> No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
>> about dangling participles.
>
>If it dangles, Sheldon does.

I see 3 superfluous commas.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 12:47:50 -0500, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 09:59:43 -0400, wrote:
>
>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>>jmcquown wrote:
>>>
>>>> No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
>>>> about dangling participles.
>>>
>>>If it dangles, Sheldon does.
>>
>> I see 3 superfluous commas.
>
>And you've bitched about it before and have always been wrong. All
>those commas are perfectly fine. You're not nearly as smart as you
>think you are.

Perfectly fine if you're a stuttering dwarf.

wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 12:47:50 -0500, Sqwertz >
> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 09:59:43 -0400, wrote:
>>
>>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>>> jmcquown wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
>>>>> about dangling participles.
>>>>
>>>> If it dangles, Sheldon does.
>>>
>>> I see 3 superfluous commas.
>>
>> And you've bitched about it before and have always been wrong. All
>> those commas are perfectly fine. You're not nearly as smart as you
>> think you are.
>
> Perfectly fine if you're a stuttering dwarf.
>

Yoose tell him Popeye. He just hasn't read the Sailors Guide to Grammar.
Why don't yoose send him a copy?

On 6/27/2018 9:59 AM, wrote:
> Sqwertz wrote:
>> jmcquown wrote:
>>
>>> No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
>>> about dangling participles.
>>
>> If it dangles, Sheldon does.
>
> I see 3 superfluous commas.
>
Time for you to go back to school.

Jill

In article >,
says...
>
> On 6/26/2018 3:57 PM, Janet wrote:
> > In article >, says...
> >>
> >> On 26-Jun-2018, lid (ciavelillse)
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi there!
> >>>
> >>> I've seen both forms but I cannot distinguish when do we use the
> >>> article before the object.
> >>>
> >>> My parents weren't cooking dinner.
> >>> My parents weren't cooking the dinner.
> >> Maybe it's like hospital. In UK they say, "in hospital", in US we say "in
> >> the hospital".
> >
> > In UK we use both.
> >
> > Jim is in hospital having some treatment.
> > Dr Jones works in the hospital.
> >
> > Janet UK.
> >
>
>
> But would you say
>
> Jim is in the hospital having some treatment

Yes

> Dr Jones works in hospital

No

Janet UK

On Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 6:06:58 PM UTC-4, Jill McQuown wrote:
> On 6/27/2018 9:59 AM, wrote:
> > Sqwertz wrote:
> >> jmcquown wrote:
> >>
> >>> No one, other than a teacher, actually cares
> >>> about dangling participles.
> >>
> >> If it dangles, Sheldon does.
> >
> > I see 3 superfluous commas.
> >
> Time for you to go back to school.
>
> Jill

Perhaps. I might have used dashes (or parentheses) for a pair of those commas,
to convey the pauses you heard in your mind when you wrote it. However, if
I found such a construction in a book I was copy editing, I would restructure
the sentence:

Other than a teacher, no one actually cares about dangling participles.

Factually incorrect, as the dangling participle can lead to misunderstanding,
but I'd posit that very few people care about dangling participles. Most
human brains can figure out from context what noun the dangling participle
was intended to modify.

In any event, it's foolish to correct people's grammar on Usenet, unless
they have the sentence so twisted up that nobody can understand it.

Cindy Hamilton