 Re: use of the definite article
In fact, this one does crop up in the grammar of Contemporary English (Quirk et al, Longman). Having said that definite reference requires the definite article, they then say:
However, the zero (or definite) article is used with the noun complement after copulas and "naming verbs" such as APPOINT, DECLARE, ELECT.
They then give examples similar to the ones I gave above. There's no explanation though - just the statement that it happens. |