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Mak
Play piano or play *the* piano?
When talking about musical instruments, or to be more specific, when talking about the ability to play a musical instrument, do we use the article "the" in statements such as these:
Do you play (the) piano?
No, I play (the) guitar.
I can play (the) guitar, but am not very good at it.
I love playing (the) violin.
If both are correct, which one sounds more natural - with or without the?
Mar 21, 2014 4:18 PM
Answers · 4
2
Personally, I drop "the." That being said, both are correct. It depends entirely on the person. I do play guitar and piano, though.
March 22, 2014
2
You use "the" to imply "out of all musical instruments".
If you drop "the", we can still understand it, but you will sound unnatural.
March 21, 2014
2
Yes, I agree with Akahitoha. You can say it both ways, but I think it definitely sounds more natural to include the "the": I play the piano, I play the violin, I play guitar.
March 21, 2014
2
I'd suggest saying "the" with it, but some people do drop it. Generally it depends on how you're saying it. "What instrument do you play?" "I play the piano." "What instrument do you play?" "I play piano". It's basically the same in both cases, the "the" was just dropped because the topic was understood. Technically, to be grammatically accurate, you should include the "the", but some native speakers choose to leave it out.
March 21, 2014
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Mak
Language Skills
Assamese, Bengali, English, German, Hindi
Learning Language
Assamese, English, German
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