Is the article a bit odd here?

Question

Hello everyone,

In a sentence like "He was crowned king.", the indefinite article ("a (king)") is obviously not needed, but if you were to use it ("He was crowned a king"), would you say:

1) It sounds wrong

2) It sounds a bit odd. Does the person not know what king was he crowned?

3) (Other alternatives, if any, please)

Answer 1

Lazarus said:

Would you write this?

> Queen Elizabeth I was crowned a queen in 1553.

No. It sounds odd. I'd leave out the article.

I would also not use the article here: Obama was sworn in as president in 2008.

Thanks. - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 2

I would say that "He was crowned a King." is grammatically incorrect, and is based on an incorrect way of saying "There was crowned a King."

Both phrases come from middle English and are of little relevance today. Another sentence from the same time period is "It am I.", which all grammarians today would consider incorrect.

Answer 3

He was crowned a king = He was a king in general, not any particular king

The second isn't as common as the first, but it's not particularly odd.

Ok, let put some context then. Let's say we are talking about Queen Elizabeth (any of them). Would you write this?

Queen Elizabeth I was crowned a queen in 1553.

No you would say "Crowned Queen" or maybe "Crowned as Queen" - ian-hill, Oct 9, 2010

"a" queen is too indefinite. 'The" queen is acceptable. "crowned queen" is preferred. - pesta, Oct 9, 2010

Ok, thanks! Maybe I should have asked this from the very beginning, because I wanted to confirm that it sounds as bad as I though it does. - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

What Ian said. If it's a specific queen, you wouldn't typically use the article. You could, meaning she was made a queen compared to a duchess or something, but it would be odd. - KevinB, Oct 9, 2010

Elizabeth could not have been crowned anything but a Queen - being a women. - ian-hill, Oct 9, 2010

Empress? Who else wears crowns? - KevinB, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 4

Ian said:

3 might indicate he was crowned as a king of say SpanishDict where there might be more than one king crowned..

I tend to agree with Ian on this. If you place the indefinite article here (in these types of sentences), it seems to add a strong implication that the office being alluded to entails a complementary position, i.e. there are other members within this hierarchy who enjoy equal authority to the person being spoken of.

In this case, the phrases "a/as a + sing. noun" seems to hold a similar semantic value to "as one of the + pl. noun."

?He was just sworn in as a member of the council.
?He was just sworn in as one of the members of the council

?He was sworn in as a Senator of Texas in 1992.
?He was sworn in as one of the Senators of Texas in 1992

?He was crowned a King of Middle-Earth.
?He was crowned as one of the Kings of Middle-Earth.

I think that the use of the indefinite article sounds strange because of the implication of absolute and unshared power/authority that is usually inferred by such positions as "king," "emperor" or president etc.

It would sound less strange, for example, were you to say something like, "He was crowned (as) a Duke of that country in 1542 (implies that he was not the only Duke of the country)

"a" and "as a" are not interchangeable in most cases, including the examples given here. - lorenzo9, Oct 9, 2010

Sorry....I did not mean to imply that these two were interchangeable with each other - Izanoni1, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 5

Elizabeth could not have been crowned anything but a Queen - being a women.

Excuse me? What does the tiara than the princess below is wearing represent?

Marry a crown prince or be heir apparent and you get to wear a crown, or sorts. It may not be the King or Queen's crown, but they give you some type of symbolic head piece.

Crown Princess Victoria

But is there a "crowning" ceremony? Or do they just hand you the headgear? - KevinB, Oct 9, 2010

Depends on the country. Some places you earn the title by blood and some you are appointed for which there is an elaborate ceremoney. - 0074b507, Oct 9, 2010

A Duchess is never "crowned" - ian-hill, Oct 9, 2010

Sorry. We Americans have become woefully ignorant about the details of royalty ever since we kicked George's butt back across the Atlantic. :-) - KevinB, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 6

For me

1 and 3 Lazarus.

3 might indicate he was crowned as a king of say SpanishDict where there might be more than one king crowned..

That's a very useful answer, Ian! Thanks! - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

You are most welcome Lazarus - ian-hill, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 7

I would say: 'He was crowned King' This is the best way to express the idea.

It wouldn't be wrong to say 'He was crowned as King' but the word as' would be considered unnecessary since it would most likely leave the reader thinking: ' Well, of course he would be crowned King ..what else could he be crowned as?

In English the definite articles are not used/needed when the meaning is already clear They are used

1 for emphasis eg The King of Spain is coming to visit England not just any King but 'The King of Spain'

or 2 for clarification Bring him the silver crown on the table ( not just a crown but 'the' (silver) crown ....implying the only one that is silver!

I hope this helps you, Lazarus

Answer 8

I guess I was not sufficiently emphatic in my first answer. The use of the article just doesn't sound wrong, it is incorrect.

He was promoted to Vice President of IBM.--correct

He was promoted to a Vice President of IBM--wrong

There are lots of VPs at IBM, and after his his promotion he is one of them, but that is irrelevant.

There are millions of examples of this.

As with every grammatically incorrect sentence, there are grammatically correct alternatives, so I guess that makes the answer to the original question (3) by default.

Answer 9

One alternative,

He was crowned as king.

I know the alternatives, Eddy. I just want to know how does THAT sentence sound. - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

Well I for one, wouldn't use "a king", just "king". - Eddy, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 10

You have opened a can of worms here. There are extensive articles written about English definite articles (pun intended). American and British English have many differences in the use of "the". For example, John was taken to hospital in England, but John was taken to the hospital in the USA. Further examples are too numerous to mention.

I know, but I'm just concerned about my sentence in this case. - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

" the hospital" indicates either that there is only one hospital or that it is obvious which hospital is being talked about - or at least it should. - ian-hill, Oct 9, 2010

I agree, ian-hill, but in the USA, when someone is taken to 'the hospital', it is not a particular one unless you give the hospital's name. - pesta, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 11

"He was crowned King" is suffcient.

If you are mentioning King of a place, you could use an article as in "He was crowned the King of Spain," but "He was crowned King of Spain" still sounds more natural. In this case, I would never use "a" - it sounds wierd.

Of course "Él fue un rey cualquiera " would work with "a" ... "He was just a king."

Answer 12

If you go to top of the web page: click on More, Reference, Spanish Grammar, and then Indefinite article and you should find the information you need. Great explanations. Good luck!!!

Ciao!!

Spanish is my mother tongue and I teach Spanish grammar. I just want to know how bad does that sentence sounds in English (if it does) from a subjective point of view, not a grammatical one. But thanks anyway. - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

Lazarus probably wrote most of that. - KevinB, Oct 9, 2010

Ditto - ian-hill, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 13

He was crowned king = He was made king of wherever he was. He was "The King".
He was crowned a king = He was made a king in general, not any particular king, just one king among many kings in the world.

The second isn't as common as the first, but it's not particularly odd.

Please see my post below. - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010

Answer 14

I say:

2).

They are both totally correct, but the "a" just sounds unnecessary. When you use the "a", it almost makes you want to ask, "Well, what else would he be crowned, Queen?"

Thanks. That's the 'feeling' I had. I am not sure others understood what I was asking. Let's see... - lazarus1907, Oct 9, 2010