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As a native American English speaker, I wrote the following error message for our application: "There was an error. Please contact administrator."

A native German speaking colleague asked me why I didn't write, "Please contact the administrator."

Both of course sound correct to me, and I find thousands of instances of "Please contact administrator" when googling.

Why is it that as a native American English speaker, I find "Please contact administrator" correct while e.g. I don't find "There was error." correct?

Does anyone know of a linguistic rule which explains when one can leave out articles and when one can't?

It seems to have to do with headlines as someone suggested in the comments, but also instructions. Has there been any research on this to determine all the contexts in which articles can be omitted in this way?

Edward Tanguay
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    "Please contact administrator" is a recognised, idiomatic shortform which lends itself to notices, instructions etc. on forms, websites etc. However, if giving out textually written or spoken instructions, or simply referring to the person, it would be usual to say "the administrator". None of this is peculiar to America, similar treatment is normal in Britain too. – WS2 May 17 '18 at 08:16
  • But this tendency seems to go beyond specific phrases. For example, if I were writing an instruction manual, I would write, "Pull level and start engine". Why do we tend to leave out the articles in this case instead of writing, "Pull the lever and start the engine."? – Edward Tanguay May 17 '18 at 08:24
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    It's an accepted shorthand in certain domains (instruction leaflets, newspaper headlines ...). It gets down to the essentials. – Edwin Ashworth May 17 '18 at 08:34
  • Yes, it seems to have to do with headlines, but also instructions. Has there been any research on this to determine all the contexts in which articles can be omitted in this way? – Edward Tanguay May 17 '18 at 08:58
  • @EdwardTanguay - There is no commission who will punish you if you use the wrong terminology. It's whatever the public accepts. – Hot Licks May 17 '18 at 12:22
  • @Hot Licks Nor am I worried about being punished by any commission. I do, however, want to be able to explain to my colleagues who are non-native speakers of English, the rules of my native language, and there seems to be a rule or at least a tendency here, e.g. that native speakers tend to leave out articles in specific contexts such as instructions and headlines. I simply looking for someone who has done some research on this phenomenon and has identified what these contexts are exactly, i.e. I assume there are more than headlines and instructions, and perhaps other insightful details. – Edward Tanguay May 17 '18 at 13:54
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    @EdwardTanguay -- This is what I would call "abbreviated text". The most common scenario for this is "headlines", but it is also used in labels on computer "buttons", on forms, and, quite often, in lists. – Hot Licks May 17 '18 at 13:58
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    @EdwardTanguay - But note, in this particular case, is permits tiptoeing around the question of which administrator -- should it be "the" or "an"? – Hot Licks May 17 '18 at 13:59
  • @HotLicks This "administrator" is typically an individual who resides in the imagination of software writers. They work on the supposition that the facility which is using their product is a shared one. So there are certain instructions which can be given by an individual user but some which are reserved for "administrator". Hence as you rightly say they "tiptoe around" the question of which article to use. – WS2 May 17 '18 at 15:17
  • I would say please contact *your* administator in order to avoid the debate between "the" and "an." – Jason Bassford May 18 '18 at 03:47

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