3

If you ask someone working at a store 'Where's milk?' would that be right grammatically or does it have to be 'Where's the milk?' I know in the kitchen you would say 'Where's the milk?' or 'Where's the salt?' but i'm not sure if it would be the same case here perhaps because in the store you would be talking about milk in general. Even if 'Where's milk?' is wrong, then why does 'Where's milk in this store' sound right?

Asad Ikhtiyar
  • 49
  • Either way should be acceptable and easily understood. – Bread Jun 17 '18 at 22:04
  • For once, I'll not hedge. "Where's milk in this store?" doesn't sound right. And "Where's the milk in this store?", though grammatically acceptable, would often sound abrupt to the point of rudeness. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 17 '18 at 23:08
  • 2
    Neither Where's milk nor Where's milk in this store is natural. Where's milk located in this store or Where's milk to be found in this store might be passable in narrative, but probably not as a direct question, whereas where can I find the milk and where can I find milk would be acceptable all around. – choster Jun 17 '18 at 23:39
  • 2
    "Excuse me. If I were a bag of milk, where would I hide?" – Jason Bassford Jun 18 '18 at 02:33
  • 1
    +1 Good Q. One who understand the definite article should know that the definite article is needed in the kitchen but not in the store. See also [ell.se] Good Luck. – Kris Jun 18 '18 at 06:00
  • 1
    @choster "Where's milk?" works in the store and will be appreciated by the store people than a scholarly "where can I find the milk," which is actually, wrong. See also, my comment above. – Kris Jun 18 '18 at 06:02
  • @Kris Perhaps this is a regional difference? If someone asked me where's milk I would find it hard not to reply he's hanging out with Waldo, or perhaps where are any of us, really? — but then, I was not the most stellar employee, even by the standards of minimum wage retail clerks. Where's the milk? would be much more natural. – choster Jun 18 '18 at 14:32
  • 1
    @Bread What dialect of English do you speak where "Where's milk?" is considered acceptable? – Azor Ahai -him- Jun 18 '18 at 16:30
  • 2
    @Kris What on Earth is wrong with "Where can I find the milk?"? – Azor Ahai -him- Jun 18 '18 at 16:32
  • @Jason Bassford Hahaha. Good one! – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:19
  • @Kris Thank you for your input. It seems like there are people who differ from you. Can you reference an authentic source? At English Language Learners, there's a long list of questions on everything and it would take too much time to go through all of them for just a single question. Just to be sure if you're reasoning here is that one is asking for a specific thing in the kitchen which is not the case in a store, wouldn't you say that that's kind of flimsy because even in a store you're asking for something specific? – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:30
  • Of course, the dairy industry popularized the now widely known slogan, Got milk? Something otherwise ungrammatical, but now perfectly understood. I think the actual "answer" here is that both phrases are quite understandable, and a friendly clerk will point you in the right direction rather than debating the finer points with you. :) – Jason Bassford Jun 19 '18 at 14:30
  • @Kris For example, you're not asking them where milk is in general? That would be a meaningless question, you're asking them where the milk that they have is? – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:30
  • @JasonBassford Yeah! I get that but i'm just trying to clear the confusion that's brewing in me as the use of articles often tends to do. – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:33
  • @JasonBassford Is 'Got Milk?' Ungrammatical? How? Surely You cant say 'Got the milk'? – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:34
  • @EdwinAshworth So,'where's milk' and 'where's milk in this store', both of them don't sound right but would you comment on their grammaticality? Also. if you use a named product for example Cheetos, would your statement still stand true. For instance do the sentences 'Where's cheetos' and 'Where's cheetos in this store' also sound unnatural? – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:51
  • @choster So,'where's milk' and 'where's milk in this store', both of them don't sound right but would you comment on their grammaticality? Also. if you use a named product for example Cheetos, would your statement still stand true. For instance do the sentences 'Where's cheetos' and 'Where's cheetos in this store' also sound unnatural? – Asad Ikhtiyar Jun 19 '18 at 14:52
  • I'd say worse than borderline ungrammatical if a gun were being held to my head, but why bother about how grammatical it is if it's unacceptable on other grounds? Some people still haven't realised that there are even worse errors than ungrammaticality. 'It is I' is still grammatical, but will not get you to see Professor Pullum. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 19 '18 at 15:06
  • Shifting the question to a different context, if I go to a library and ask "Where's the fiction?" I think I'm asking where the fiction books are. If I ask "Where's fiction?" I think I'm asking where the category of fiction is. Is there any basis for my opinion? – Al Maki Jun 19 '18 at 15:11
  • ... or just 'milk? – lbf Jun 19 '18 at 15:39

1 Answers1

0

I feel as if both versions of the phrase are perfectly understandable. (Nor would anybody question the dairy industry's own directive of Got milk?—despite the fact that it's syntactically wrong.)

I'm not going to weigh into the debate over the use of the definite pronoun in the context of a store versus a household. (I look forward to reading somebody else's complex answer on that.)

But I will provide a phrase that is grammatical and guaranteed to produce results. One should always free to ask this at any grocery store.

Where's your milk?

Jason Bassford
  • 38,040