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In these sentences:

"Is he a director of this company?"

"Is he director of this company?"

Why don't we use the article 'a' in this question? Is there any workaround?

lee
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FAQ
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  • I don't see anything wrong with "Is he a director of this company?" if it's a company with a board of directors. – Kate Bunting Dec 16 '20 at 17:41
  • AND Is he the* director of this company?* Which even more strongly than your article-less version implies there's only *one* director. – FumbleFingers Dec 16 '20 at 17:53

3 Answers3

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Does the company have more than one director? If yes, I would say

Is he one of the directors of this company?

When you ask in general (without "of this company"), you need the indefinite article a, as when we ask about any profession:

Is he a director? (Is he a musician/teacher/writer?)

If the company has only one director, then you need the definite article the:

Is he the director of this company?

Neither "Is he a director of this company?" nor "Is he director of this company?" sound very common, but you might come across the second one in certain situations.

fev
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We don't use any article when one man holds only one position at a time & the name of the post/position is used predicatively.

"Is he director of this company?"

But when it is a title for person, use 'the' :

"The director of this company has come."

Sandip Kumar Mandal
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  • We used to also omit the article for family relationships — “I am Leif, son of Erik” — but that has a rather archaic sound now. For some reason, with family relationships you are allowed to the definite article — “Is Malia the daughter of Barack?” — even though the indefinite is clearly called for. – Michael Lorton Dec 16 '20 at 17:14
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"Is he a director of this company?" -- if there is more than one director.

If there is only one, it would be -- "Is he the director of this company?"

Dhanishtha Ghosh
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Cathy Baker
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