What "a cause" but not "the cause"?

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Context:

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — The burned remains found in the ashes of a Southern California mountain cabin have been positively identified as fugitive former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.

Dorner's dental records were used to make the identification, said spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

She did not provide a cause of death.

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Type: Question • Score: 9 • Views: 2,008 • Replies: 20

[+4] - Falco - 02/15/2013If you want a simple rule, the use of an indefinite article "a" is used to talk about something in general, non-specific, or non-particular. Since the cause of death is unknown, the...

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@oristarA,

Both articles work fine here. Since the source could be a newspaper, perhaps the editor or the author of the piece used the shorter article if space (letter count) for the news story counted and space was limited.

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@tsarstepan,

Thank you.
PS. A typo in the title: What "a cause" but not "the cause"?

Should be:
Why "a cause" but not "the cause"?

1 Reply

@oristarA,

Why do you want to know? What's the difference?

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@oristarA,

If you want a simple rule, the use of an indefinite article "a" is used to talk about something in general, non-specific, or non-particular.
Since the cause of death is unknown, the statement "She did not provide a cause of death" suggest an unknown cause or in other words does not specify a certain cause. It could be any number of causes, thus the use of an indefinite article "a" to go for a general statement and to modify the non-specific noun.

Now, say, for the sake of giving you an example, if the cause of death was known to be third degree burn from the fire, then the reporter would likely would have worded the statement "The cause of death was third degree burns..." instead of "A cause of death was third degree burns..." In this case, you see that the use of definite article "the" makes more sense, and is used in such a case to refer to a particular noun.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Thank you.
PS. A typo in the title: What "a cause" but not "the cause"?

Should be:
Why "a cause" but not "the cause"?

I already answered that question in my first post. A and The are virtually the same in either sentence. To most people the two are interchangeable. The only people to disagree would be really anal retentive philosophers and they're not engrossed in grammatical theory but the inane meaning of life and death which is irrelevant to your question.

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@Falco,

Cool.

I think "She did not provide cause of death" works as well. That is: without any article.

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@oristarA,

Yes, you have the option of omitting an article when talking about things in general.

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The indefinite article 'a' is often used when describing items of information.

The police said that a person was arrested but did not give a name.

You were phoned today. The caller did not leave a name or a number.

Newspaper stories often use 'a' in connection with an investigation into a death.

Quote:

Meanwhile, Waterloo Regional Police resumed their search Monday near Woodside National Historic Site for more remains.

Police said that forensic work to determine a cause of death continues in Hamilton.

Quote:

A cause of death has not yet been released by authorities following an autopsy conducted on the local martial artist who died after a disturbance at a nightclub here, although officials did note the deceased had a “history of significant medical problems.”

Quote:

Investigators have determined a cause of death for Garrett Reid, the son of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

Quote:

A cause of death for Johnie Kirton has been released.

Quote:

This is the moment that Edward Archbold, 32, celebrated winning a roach-eating contest in South Florida just hours before he mysteriously dropped dead.

About 30 contestants downed dozens of the live bugs as well as worms during Friday night's contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.

Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to a statement from Broward Sheriff's Office.

He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

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“She did not provide cause of death.”

To me it sounds clipped, or abbreviated, like when writing space is limited.

I prefer the use of articles. It lends to precision in meaning.

1 Reply

@InfraBlue,

Not necessarily.

Quote:

Other trials did not provide cause of death, so could not be included in the analysis of respiratory deaths.

Quote:

Other trials did not provide a cause of death, so could not be included in the analysis of respiratory deaths.

Is there more "precision" of meaning acquired from adding an indefinite article?

1 Reply

@oristarA,

'The Cause" would be a single, proximate cause. There may have been several.

1 Reply

@roger,

So now we have a grammar discussion.

I agree with Roger, if we're going to dissect the thing. A cause may be one of many while the cause indicates there was only one...........cause of death in this case.

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@Falco,

Well no, I didn't say or mean "necessarily." I should have said "tends to."

In the article you cite "cause of death" is being used as a single noun, like a title or a part of a title that would be found on a death certificate.

"IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF DEATH"

1 Reply

@InfraBlue,

InfraBlue wrote:

In the article you cite "cause of death" is being used as a single noun, like a title or a part of a title that would be found on a death certificate.

Same could be said for the statement: “She did not provide cause of death.”

1 Reply

@Falco,

Sure, but the original sentence used the article "a" implying, like Roger pointed out, the possibility of more than one cause. Otherwise, it would have sounded, if not abreviated, like the spokeswoman had the death certificate available to read from, which at that point in time I doubt that it was, and was withholding that information.

1 Reply

@InfraBlue,

The use of the indefinite article "a" only implies that precise identity of the noun may be irrelevant or hypothetical or the writer is making a general statement. It could have been a number of different causes, or it could be a possibility of more than one cause. And before a death certificate is issued, the autopsy report is filled out with a cause of death. And one would hope a reputable news source would use a primary source, such as an autopsy report when reporting a cause of death. Safe to say, a cause of death discovered from the investigation during the autopsy will be labeled under the "cause of death," which being a title, the phrase is seen as a single noun.

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People who work in government offices often use indefinite articles when they talk about items of information supplied on official forms, especially where there is incompleteness. "This guy wants to register his child for school but he didn't give a sex or a date of birth in section 3". Also newspaper reporters talk to the police and coroner's officers and may pick up their perspective.

Newspapers often use guarded language when talking about legal processes not yet complete. To say that "a" (provisional) cause of death has or has not been announced could be a way of avoiding pre-empting or anticipating what may be later recorded on a death certificate, or the finding of a coroner's inquest or other legal process, i.e. "the" (final, legally definitive) cause of death, or simply to underscore the provisional nature of early indications.

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@contrex,

That's a very good point. In this country, and no doubt in others, in the case of a violent or unexplained death the coroner's verdict on cause of death is the definitive one.
For instance, a person found dead in the water may not have drowned.

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@tsarstepan,

Quote:

I already answered that question in my first post. A and The are virtually the same in either sentence. To most people the two are interchangeable. The only people to disagree would be really anal retentive philosophers and they're not engrossed in grammatical theory but the inane meaning of life and death which is irrelevant to your question.

It would be better if you refrained from offering your advice on language issues, Tsars. Was there anyone that agreed with your position?

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What "a cause" but not "the cause"?

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