Can you act as (an) interpreter?

[diamondcutter]

Can you act as interpreter?

This is a sample sentence from the following dictionary.
[url]https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/act_1?q=act[/URL]

The noun ‘interpreter’ is a countable one. Is the indefinite article ‘an’ needed before it in the sample sentence above?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

They both work, and so does the interpreter, but it depends on context.

If you're asking a general question about a person's ability to interpret in any hypothetical situation, it's best to use an.

If you're about a person's ability to interpret in a particular situation (like you and a bartender speak different languages, so you need help ordering s drink), then you can use a, the, or no article at all.

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, Charlie.

All the dictionaries I’ve checked say ‘interpreter’ is a countable noun, including the Oxford one. But in the sample sentence the word is used as an uncountable noun. It’s really strange. Could you tell me if other words similar to ‘interpreter’ can be used this way? For example, doctor, teacher, pilot, secretary and so on.

 

[jutfrank]

The lack of use of an article here is because 'interpreter' is suggested to be a role to be played. This is very common and can be used whenever the meaning is something like 'in the capacity of ___'.

Perhaps one of the moderators could link to one of the many useful threads we've had on this subject.