This is an old way of kidnapping a child, but it happened in Taiwan today. "A man tried pulling a girl into his car after he asked for directions for the National Palace museum." My question is as fo

prudent260

This is an old way of kidnapping a child, but it happened in Taiwan today. "A man tried pulling a girl into his car after he asked for directions for the National Palace museum." My question is as follows: 1. after he asked for directionS for . . . 2. after he asked for THE direction for the National Palace museum. 3, after he asked for THE directionS for the National Palace museum. From my perspective, "asked for the directions for the museum" makes more sense as there is definitely more than one route leading to the museum and since the destination is already known, 'the directions' seems more logical. But language is never about logic. Could you tell me which one sounds more natural? And how would you say this? Thank you. :)

Mar 10, 2022 2:17 PM

Answers · 9

Most of the time no article is used with directions, unless it has been established that there is a specific set of directions. 'Directions' used this way is a lot like 'Guidance.' You would ask for the THE guidance. An example of when you would use an article: "He said he would leave directions with you. Do you have the directions?" THE is specific since you mean the directions he left.

March 11, 2022

Hi! The first one is the most natural of the ones you listed, however, I would say something more like "...after he asked for directions TO the National Palace Museum." The way you wrote it is not wrong, but directions are usually thought of as a way of getting to a place. I understand your logic in using "the directions", but in this case I think that phrasing may imply that there is only one way to get to the museum. Again, it's not wrong to use "the directions" here, but it is a less natural way of speaking (at least for American English).

March 10, 2022

The first one is more natural - ... asked for directions for ... It is because there might be more than one way to the museum that the directions are indefinite and therefore shouldn't have the article. If you say 'the directions for', this would suggest they are already defined - either there is only one way, or someone has previously decided which directions to use.

March 10, 2022

The definite article isn't needed. It could be used if there is only one way to the place. However, in most instances, there isn't. Akso, the preposition after directions should be 'to', as stated by Raquel.

March 11, 2022

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