Learn English – The prince and princess or The prince and the princess

articlesexam-questions

The prince and princess (A) made their way (B) through the cheering crowd. (C) No error (D)

According to my book the above sentence is a no error sentence but isn't the first part in the sentence wrong ? Since the prince and the princess are two different persons don't we need to use article the with both of them ?

Best Answer

As has been pointed out, if the two are associated with the same thing the second "the" is not necessary since the two might be considered single unit. Unless you wanted to emphasize / draw attention to a particular aspect in which case "both" might also be used.

The prince and the princess of Britain both have dark hair.

The prince and princess are the parents of George and Charlotte.

The ham and eggs are grown locally.
The ham and the eggs are (both) grown locally.

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