I thought the exact same thing. I think using "a" leaves the door open for interpretation. When I say I tore a ligament in my ankle, it does not mean it's the only ligament in my ankle. It just means I tore one. I could have 100, but that is not the point of the statement. If the sentence said "Burke tore the vertebral artery, which is located..." then it would obviously be incorrect.. :) From: mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx Sent: January-12-12 4:51 PM To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [mea] Re: Are you ok with this sentence? Grammatically correct, yes. But there are many vertebral arteries, so I have a problem with the accuracy of saying A vertebral artery which IS located... But could just be me being tired and listening to a crazy-making discussion about "grammatical shortcuts." I need a drink. From: Ben Davies <bdavies@xxxxxxxxx> To: "mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: 2012-01-12 04:36 PM Subject: [mea] Re: Are you ok with this sentence? Sent by: mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ________________________________ How is it misleading? Burke tore a vertebral artery, which is located in the neck and supplies blood to the brainstem... Is that grammatically incorrect? To me it is perfectly clear. From: mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> [mailto:mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx<mailto:cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: January-12-12 4:31 PM To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [mea] Re: Are you ok with this sentence? I agree with your first point but disagree with sentence #2, which is misleading. You could say that the one she tore is located... and supplies... but you couldn't say she tore "a vertebral artery" followed by "which is located...". Yes? No? From: Ben Davies <bdavies@xxxxxxxxx> To: "mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: 2012-01-12 04:25 PM Subject: [mea] Re: Are you ok with this sentence? Sent by: mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ________________________________ For the context of the story, it is irrelevant that the body has more than one vertebral artery.. Burke tore a vertebral artery, which is located ... and supplies ... Ben From: mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> [mailto:mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Peters Susan Sent: January-12-12 4:23 PM To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [mea] Re: Are you ok with this sentence? Burke tore one of his vertebral arteries, which are located... SP ________________________________ To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [mea] Are you ok with this sentence? From: cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx<mailto:cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx> Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:32:53 -0600 "Burke tore a vertebral artery, which are located in the neck and supply blood to the brainstem - the back part of the brain which controls consciousness." (From http://www.cbc.ca/sports/skiing/story/2012/01/12/sp-burke-skiing-injury.html) Would you consider that construction perfectly ok, a colloquialism / grammatical shortcut, or would you consider it wrong no matter what? Just curious. -C. "PLEASE NOTE: The preceding information may be confidential or privileged. It only should be used or disseminated for the purpose of conducting business with Parker. If you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete the information from your system. Thank you for your cooperation." _______________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the IMRIS Email Security System. This email has been scanned by the IMRIS Email Security System "PLEASE NOTE: The preceding information may be confidential or privileged. It only should be used or disseminated for the purpose of conducting business with Parker. If you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete the information from your system. Thank you for your cooperation." _______________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the IMRIS Email Security System. This email has been scanned by the IMRIS Email Security System "PLEASE NOTE: The preceding information may be confidential or privileged. It only should be used or disseminated for the purpose of conducting business with Parker. If you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete the information from your system. Thank you for your cooperation." _______________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the IMRIS Email Security System. This email has been scanned by the IMRIS Email Security System