Why articles for instructional words?

Question

Hi. Would you please tell me why there are articles in front of these what I see as names? I think it is done because the words "Frame" and "Picture" are common nouns eventhough capitalized. I tihink it isn't the same with the word "Insert." I think (I am not sure though) we can write "Click outside the Picture Frame button" (if it is a button - that needs to be clicked).

1) Click outside the Picture Frame or click Insert on the menu.

2) Click on the Picture and insert Clip Art.

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

Anonymous I think it is done because the words "Frame" and "Picture" are common nouns eventhough capitalized. I tihink it isn't the same with the word "Insert."

Yes, pretty much. "Picture frame" is a noun that describes the actual object you click on, whereas "Insert" is just a text label. You can talk about "a picture frame" or "the picture frame", but not about "an insert" or "the insert" (well, actually, you can, but that's a completely different meaning to the one needed here).

If a noun such as "picture frame" or "picture" is just a generic description of the object then it doesn't need to be capitalised. Nevertheless, some authors feel that Important Words Should Be Capitalised, or, more charitably I suppose, use capitalisation for clarity or emphasis. I don't personally like this style.

"Click Picture Frame" = Click the text that reads "Picture Frame"

"Click the Picture Frame/picture frame" = Click the picture frame itself

"Click Insert" = Click the text that reads "Insert"

"Click the Insert button" = Click the button labelled "Insert"

AnonymousI think (I am not sure though) we can write "Click outside the Picture Frame button"

Correct (except that it's strange to ask someone to click "outside" a button, but this isn't relevant to your question).

Mr Wordy · Answer

Mr Wordy"Picture frame" is a noun that describes the actual object you click on,

Not that it matters hugely, but I meant to say:

"Picture frame" and "picture" are nouns that describe...

Why articles for instructional words?

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