Expert: Dan Smith - 5/26/2006

Question
When reading a U.S. homebuilder's annual report, I, a Japanese, have bumped into:

Each division is responssible for:
?E Site selection, which involves
  - A feasibility study;
  - Soil and environmental reviews; and
  - Review of existing zoning and other
    governmental requirements;

My questions are:

(1) Could we say in this context "Feasibility
   studies?" If ok, which is better?
(2) Why the third one does not have "A" before
   "review?"  If without "A" is ok, could we
   also say "Feasibility study?"
(3) If you could advise a kind of general theory
   which would help me not to worry about
   things like above, it would be immensely
   appreciated.

Thank you,  

Answer
1. Either "feasibility studies" or "a feasibility study" would be acceptable. Which it should be in this context might depend on whether the larger context refers to a single site or sites in general. I don't think either will get you in trouble.

2. Good luck with articles like "a" and "the". Here's the problem. There are no clear rules in English about whether to put an article in or not. Native speakers kind of know when to put them in and when to leave them out, but nonnative speakers, especially from your linguistic background, just have a terrible time with this. I work with a lot of nonnative speakers from east Asian linguistic traditions, and sometimes I go through their work and almost exactly reverse when they have used the articles and when they have not. I'm sure there are features of Japanese that are equally difficult for people from my linguistic tradition. As nearly as I can tell, Asian languages simply have no equivalent to the English article and that is where the difficulty arises.

My best advice regarding articles is to do the best you can. If I had a firm rule, I would give it to you, but even native speakers differ sometimes on when to use or not use the article.

I can tell you this. I can look at an English paragraph and tell if a native east Asian language speaker has written it based on how articles are used. You all have trouble with that, and I think it is entirely understandable that you do. When you learn a language after about age 5-8, there are certain things that never quite come naturally. For people from your linguistic background, English articles are one of those things. Don't worry too much about it.

Finally, even people like myself who write for a living have someone to go over work that is important. Professional writers and editors also have editors. I am available to help you make the right choices when you have something that is important and has to be right. Don't be timid about asking questions.

I can be reached directly at:

dan@wordsmithofaustin.com

Sorry not to be more help.