0

I learned that "as cook" is correct than "as a cook" if their job is cook. So "He served as conductor of Boston Philharmonic." is also correct. However, from http://gregmankiw.blogspot.kr/2007/03/my-life-as-student.html he says "life as a student", thus student is not considered as job/position? So it's correct to say "as a middle schooler"?

plus, does having an adj like 'med' student or 'first female' conductor affect indefinite articles?

hermes
  • 73
  • I've read that link, and my question is different, and I read manuals, and I don't know how to edit on this strictly nerdy-standard site with formatting/computer terms I'm not familiar with. Editing could take tenfolds of time than putting a question..Could this be downgraded? :) It's a joke. – hermes Mar 17 '18 at 08:30
  • Just below your post there's an edit button (right below you "indefinite-article" tag). – JJJ Mar 17 '18 at 08:31
  • Have a look at an answer I submitted to another question. It deals with Peter Master's hierarchy of zero/indefinite/definite/null articles. – Lawrence Mar 17 '18 at 08:38
  • So the key is whether a student is occupation/title as doctor. And that was my main question as well. And I thought I laid out my question pretty clearly. Anyway thanks for links. – hermes Mar 17 '18 at 08:45
  • Try Googling the two with quotation marks: "as cook" has 900 thousand results, while "as a cook" has 6.5 million results. Also note that if you were right, it would be weird to say some phrases "well as a brain surgeon, I will operate on the tumor inside your brain", wait what do you mean "as", isn't this your day job? Or using the announcement system, "well as a pilot, I'd like to ask everyone to remain calm, I'm just informing you our captain is not well and we need an emergency landing". – JJJ Mar 17 '18 at 09:20
  • right on what? I think we're talking different things. Can someone let me know whether it's okay to say "as a middle school student" instead of "as middle school student"? Yes or no would do, hopefully with grammar rules I can refer to in the future. – hermes Mar 17 '18 at 09:44
  • I think you would omit the article, or use the definite article, if the occupation referred to is a particular post. "I worked as a cook for ten years" but "I worked as cook at Newtown School" (or "the cook"). So, yes, say "as a student" as they are one of many. – Kate Bunting Mar 17 '18 at 10:28

0 Answers0