Is indefinite article omission common/correct?

Question

I was given two sentences, one of which allowed the exclusion of the indefinite article, while the other did not. "Do you have a watch?" (I was told) could be "¿Tiene reloj?" or "¿Tiene un reloj?" while "Do you have a cell phone?" was "¿Tienes un teléfono celular?" with "¿Tienes teléfono celular?" marked wrong. Besides the usted/tu forms and the adjective these sentences are structurally identical so I don't understand why one would be allowed the article omission and one would not. Is there any reason, and is indefinite article omission as in the first sentence common and/or correct grammar?

Answer 1

The way it usually goes is, if the noun has a modifying adjective you need to include the indefinite article. Therefore '¿Tienes teléfono celular? is technically incorrect although you often hear it. Nowadays you hear the word "celular" used all by itself as a noun with out the "teléfono" To be safe, use the indefinite article whenever the noun is accompanied by an adjective.

If there is no adjective, like in "¿Tienes reloj?' it is better lo leave out the indefinite article. If you include the article, the meaning is changed slightly, but it's nothing to be concerned about. If you hear "¿Tienes un reloj?" It is quite like" Do you have a WATCH????"-- like the person is surprised that you have one. There are people who may disagree with this, it may just be a regional thing.

So if I said "¿Tienes [un] celular?, could I drop the "un"? - HackerKing, Jan 21, 2015

¡Sí, señor! - Daniela2041, Jan 21, 2015

Gracias Daniela por otra repuesta buena (excuse my espanol). BTW I'm new to the SpanishDict forum and not clued up on protocol yet, but is it Ok to thank people in general discussion or is it considered clutter? - jellonz, Jan 21, 2015

Most of us here don't mind clutter and we reeeaallly appreciate feedback! - Daniela2041, Jan 22, 2015

In that case, Gracias de nuevo! - jellonz, Jan 22, 2015