Definite article VS no article

English translation: Predator

16:35 Aug 18, 2023

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama

English term or phrase: Definite article VS no article

Dear native English speakers!

Would someone please clarify one little thing for me.

Why is it that some movie titles (or book titles) have THE in them, while some of them don't have any article at all?
For example, there are two well-known movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger, wich are:
'The Terminator'
and
'Predator'
Why does the first title have this THE article, while the other don't? Why not 'The Predator'? What is the difference between these two? Is there a grammatical nuance of some kind that I just don't really get here?

Please help me with this.

Thank you!

Andrew Vdovin KudoZ activity Questions: 3923 (2 open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 3924
Local time: 23:29

Selected answer:Predator

Explanation:
Hi,
This stylistic question occurred to me too recently, while watching a Czech TV drama titled Herec/Actor, as opposed to the syntactically expected definite 'The Actor', referring to the specific protagonist in question. I think the answer is it's a matter of stylistics over syntax, in that this special usage of an undefined single-word nominative in film and TV drama titles achieves a starker, more memorable effect, and sounds more intriguing than a straightforward 'The xxx'.

Selected response from:

Anna Wright
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:29

Grading comment

Thank you very much Anna! Thanks everybody!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +5

No article refers to something in a general way while the article refers to something specific

MARINA MOTA

4 +5

Predator

Anna Wright

common noun vs proper noun

Susana E. Cano Méndez

You know the identity (The) x You don't kow the identity (no article)

Clauwolf

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

No article refers to something in a general way while the article refers to something specific

Explanation:
On the American English File material from Oxford, book 1 it says that "we don't use THE when we talk about people or things in general", and the examples show:
Men are usually more interested in sports than women. (general)
The women in this class work harder than the men. (specific)
I believe that in movie titles it's a matter of preference, or how strong a name sounds.
As you can see, "The Terminator" or "Terminator", "Predator" or "The predator" don't have a difference in meaning, therefore, it was chosen based on a criterion not related to grammar rules per se.

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Note added at 1 hr (2023-08-18 18:08:52 GMT)
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I hope this can be somewhat helpful.

MARINA MOTA
Brazil
Local time: 13:29
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Portuguese

Notes to answerer

Asker: Yes, I know very well the "specific vs. general" thing, but in this particular case it doesn't work, I believe. Both movie titles refer to the main antagonist, that's why the absense of THE kind of confuses me.

1 hr confidence:

definite article vs no article You know the identity (The) x You don't kow the identity (no article)

Explanation:
:) The Terminator - You know it is a cyborg who came from future to kill Sarah Connor's ... (the whole story please see in Wikipedia)

But in Predator (an Alien) You don't know his identity (no article) (the whole story in Wikipedia also)

Clauwolf
Local time: 13:29
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: OK, but when you start watching The Terminator for the very first time, you don't know anything about its identity anyway, so I don't really see much difference here.

Asker: You mean "The Predator" would be somewhat wrong for this movie?

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

Predator

Anna Wright
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:29
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thank you very much Anna! Thanks everybody!!!

Notes to answerer

Asker: Seems very true to me. So the Terminator movie makers could have used no artical at all - and then the effect would have been somewhat cooler? Why did they choose to use THE after all, I wonder? Thank you Anna!

17 hrs confidence:

common noun vs proper noun

Explanation:
Hi,
In the two examples you provide, it seems to me that the article determines it's a common noun, while no article seems to determine it is or can be considered as a proper noun.

Hope this helps.

Susana E. Cano Méndez
Spain
Local time: 18:29
Native speaker of: Spanish

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English translation: Predator

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