QUESTION: Which sentence is correct, “There are too many cars on the road” or “There are too many cars on the roads”?
ANSWER: I prefer the first, but both could be correct.
This question was addressed during a recent livestream, and I initially found it challenging to articulate a clear answer. I was able to arrive at a logical explanation only after some discussion. We began by addressing subject-verb agreement because the learner had included a third variation with “too many car,” which was clearly incorrect. That left us with a choice between “the road” and “the roads.”
Part of the challenge stems from the fact that “road” has a countable and uncountable meaning. We can talk about reaching a remote cabin by boat rather than by car or by road, for example. Boat, car, and road can generally refer to a means of travel. Their use is more abstract than concrete, so these uncountable nouns use the zero article. In contrast, when I talk about the busy road I live on, it’s specific from context, so I use the definite article.
But what about these examples?
1. Never cross the road in heavy traffic. Always use a crosswalk.
2. New drivers must have no distractions in the car so that they can pay attention to the road.
The use of “the road” in those sentences is less about abstract vs. concrete and more about which roads are being referred to. I propose that “the road” can be a reference to the whole class, that is, any and all roads. This would be similar to our use of the definite article with inventions and pieces of technology (e.g., refrigerator, oven, phone, radio), all of which have countable meanings (i.e., I bought a new dishwasher. The dishwasher I bought is ultra quiet), but they can also be generic nouns:
3. The dishwasher is a wonderfully convenient invention.
4. Never break up with someone over the phone. Do it in person.
5. Companies still pay for advertising on the radio.
6. New drivers must minimize distractions in the car.
I suggest that if we think of traffic as a broader problem, then there are too many cars on the road — any and all roads. [reference to the whole class]
If we limit our focus to a problem in my town, we might observe that there are too many cars on the roads — the roads around here. [specific from context] We could clarify that not all homes have driveways and garages, so the roads are crowded with parked cars. Which roads? The local roads.
If you’d like to see if your students grasp these subtleties, have them tackle this short set of practice items.
Featured image by riza april from Pixabay
Related post:
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