This tag is for questions about the definite article.
2
votes
2answers
419 views
“In the presence” or “in presence”
I am confused about how to use in the presence. Here I have written a sentence in which I think the before presence should be omitted.
This situation might be more critical in the presence of long ...
1
vote
1answer
622 views
“Listen to music” vs. “listen to the music”
English is not my mother tongue. I once came across information that listening to music and listening to the music mean something different. Listening to the music would mean you put whole heart into ...
2
votes
3answers
389 views
Why 'The' is used? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using the definite article before a country/state name
Why do we write:
The UCI Road World Championships 2012 (when the year is mentioned)
The Republic of ...
5
votes
1answer
219 views
Why do we use “the” in “the British” but not before “Canadians”? [closed]
Why do we use the definite article before most nationalities such as "the British" but we say "Canadians" without the?
Specifically, why is it that, for example,...
Canadians like maple syrup.
...
8
votes
2answers
552 views
Capitalising the definite article in names
When I was a youngster some mumble-mumble-mumble decades ago, I was taught that, in the instances of names of persons, places, and things which carried the definite article the, the article wasn’t ...
-2
votes
2answers
597 views
significance of “The” before country name [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using the definite article before a country/state name
I am from India, and I do not say that I am from “the India”. But someone from USA would say “I am from the ...
2
votes
3answers
123 views
Are there cases when the word “best” as an adjective could be used without “the”?
That is an advertisement of one company, a banner. They write the name of the company and the second line goes like this "best ad designs".
Is this line correct? or should there be a "the"? Is there ...
0
votes
1answer
88 views
“Upliftment of poor” vs. “upliftment of the poor”
The Government has decided to introduce the new scheme for the upliftment of poor.
Should it be "of the poor" or not?
2
votes
2answers
261 views
Is it appropriate to use “the” before an abbreviation? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using the definite article with acronyms and initialisms
For example, which one of these is more appropriate:
I am talking about what the UNICEF has done for India.
...
1
vote
1answer
127 views
“Green Park” or “The Green Park”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why there is “the” before some names but not others
When do you use definite article with names of places?
I have gathered from the Wikipedia article that ...
1
vote
1answer
288 views
“All X” vs. “all of X” vs. “all the X”
Is there any difference between "all X", "all of the X", "all the X"? E.g.,
all friends
all of the friends
all the friends
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Is “In following, …” acceptable in place of “In the following, …”?
In editing a recent question, I wrote:
In following, realtype stands for ...
Later, it got edited (two words were added) to read:
In the following example, realtype stands for ...
The ...
0
votes
3answers
333 views
Definite article in a question: “What is the time?”
I am not a native speaker.
Could you please explaine for me:
Why do we use definite article in the question:
"What is the time?"
What article's rule we used for this question?
1
vote
3answers
488 views
“The” and superlative of uncountable noun — “the clearest water”?
Uncountable nouns are usually used without an article. Superlatives require definite article. What comes out of these 2 rules when superlative meets uncountable article?
We need an example, I hope it ...
-1
votes
1answer
46 views
“Moved to trash” vs. “moved to the trash”
Would you choose as a notification message displayed to a user on a website "your messages have been successfully moved to trash" or "... the trash"?
What is the difference and which one is more ...
2
votes
4answers
416 views
Should the definite article 'the' be used or ignored?
The Ganga is the holy river of the Hindus.
Why can't we simply say, Ganga is the holy river of Hindus. why should we use the definite article 3 times?
-1
votes
2answers
148 views
Cards against (the?) humanity [closed]
In the "cards against humanity" collocation, shouldn't the article the precede humanity, i.e. "cards against the humanity"? Does the word against somehow influence this situation?
4
votes
2answers
879 views
Is it proper to use “the” before the name of a government organization? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Definite article with proper nouns, titles followed by a common noun
Using the definite article with acronyms and initialisms
When I listen to major news programs, ...
0
votes
1answer
151 views
on particular case of “the” usage
I'm about to submit my thesis, and to do so I have to translate the title of the thesis into English. My main concern is about the use of the. My title reads as follows:
On relations between ...
4
votes
2answers
185 views
The definite article “the” in “under water”/“under the water”
How can it float in the air ?
The balloon is filled with helium gas which is lighter than air. It is similar to when we blow air under water. The bubbles filled with air under the water ...
2
votes
0answers
58 views
When do we pronounce “the” as “the” and when as “thi” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the pronunciation of “the?”
I am not from the UK or the US, English is not my mother tongue.
I pronounce "the" as "the" (with e sounding like the ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
“talk over the phone” or “talk over phone”
We just talked over (the) phone.
Should there be a "the" in front of "phone"? I.e., should "phone" be
specific or not?
If there should be a "the", should "phone" be "phones" instead，since
there ...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
Definite article usage and word ordering in 'all the equipment necessary to create a network'
I have a sentence where I am not sure about the word order, and if the definite article should be used or not.
Which version is correct:
It is a system which includes all equipment necessary to ...
4
votes
3answers
118 views
Does calling an app “the Instapaper” with a definite article suggest a non-technical speaker?
Listening to an episode of a tech podcast with very tech-literate persons talking, I noticed them saying things like "I use the Tweetbot", for the iPhone app "Tweetbot", or "building the Instapaper", ...
0
votes
2answers
290 views
Definite article: Subject verb agreement
What is the correct form:
The President and host greets the guests at the door.
or
The President and host greet the guests at the door.
I am told that if we do not add the definite article ...
1
vote
2answers
177 views
Is a definite article needed before “sleep”?
Do I need a definite article before "sleep" in the following sentence?
How do they call in English that yellowish substance that is gathered
in the corner of a human eye during the sleep?
2
votes
5answers
222 views
“You're missing the posts only available to members” — should there be a “the” in there?
Consider this sentence:
You're missing posts only available to members.
I think it should actually be
You're missing the posts available only to members
or at least
You're missing ...
10
votes
3answers
2k views
Why use “the” for oceans/seas/rivers etc. but not lakes?
Possibly two questions in here: Are these sentence constructions logical, and if they are, why are they different?
I swam across the Ocmulgee River.
I swam across the Pacific Ocean.
I swam ...
3
votes
3answers
137 views
Is there a usage of “the” that indicates one out of a group of many?
Considering the sentence
Nearly anything can be a weapon in a martial artist’s hands., the indefinite article a indiciates that this can be any martial artist out of all in the world.
Next, consider ...
6
votes
1answer
232 views
“This essay was translated from the Chinese” — what does this “the” do?
Chen Guangcheng is a special student at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at
the New York University School of Law. This essay was translated from
the Chinese.
Why don't they write: "This essay was ...
0
votes
2answers
67 views
“Soundness in body” vs “Soundness in the body” [closed]
Which one of the following is correct?
Soundness in body is abundance in itself
or
Soundness in the body is abundance in itself
0
votes
1answer
127 views
Should I add a “the” before “headmaster” here? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“To be elected chairman” vs. “to be elected the chairman”
Omission of “the” in “elected him president” and “made ...
1
vote
3answers
101 views
“Location of the windows to be opened” vs. “location of windows to be opened”
I have redefined the size and location of the windows to be opened.
I have redefined the size and location of windows to be opened.
Which one is correct?
1
vote
1answer
75 views
“The existing and proposed manuals” vs. “the existing and the proposed manuals”
Which one of the following is correct?
A comparison between the existing and proposed manuals is as follows.
A comparison between the existing and the proposed manuals is as follows.
Do ...
4
votes
3answers
576 views
'… the weather' vs. '… weather'
There are two correct (I hope so) sentences with weather taken from a book:
Was the weather nice?
Did you have nice weather?
Can somebody explain why there's an article in the first ...
0
votes
2answers
470 views
Definite article in the beginning of a sentence
I'm confused with the usage of the definite article.
During the development the following tasks were accomplished:
Software with a graphical interface was created;
[some other things]
...
4
votes
5answers
187 views
Why “the Sun Tzu” instead of just “Sun Tzu”?
I am reading a military history text that repeatedly refers to "the Sun Tzu" but does not give similar treatment to other authors (an example is "Clausewitz and the Sun Tzu disagree on ..."). I have ...
4
votes
4answers
380 views
Definite article before scientific terms
I'm writing up my dissertation and I'm really confused where to use "the". Examples:
In this experiment, (the?) heat transfer coefficient was calculated, allowing to estimate (the?)frost ...
6
votes
3answers
690 views
a cold vs flu / the flu
Have you got a cold?
Have you got flu?
Have you got the flu?
Why can't we say a flu or the cold in the previous examples?
7
votes
2answers
459 views
Are there specific rules to build expressions with or without articles?
In English, there are lots of expressions built using articles like:
at the station
to the cinema
play the piano
have breakfast (no article)
take a bath
take a shower
Are there specific rules or ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Why there is “the” before some names but not others
Is there a rule beyond the common "no the with proper nouns and names" for the following problem?
I saw the Empire State Building.
We went to the White House.
We saw the Golden Gate ...
2
votes
3answers
359 views
'The' article before the word plural
I have seen the statements such as the following one in some literature:
"In the book 'XYZ' the word 'House' is never used in the plural."
To me the word 'THE' right before plural seems very ...
3
votes
1answer
192 views
Use of definite article referring to figures and tables
There are tables and figures in a document, uniquely identifiable by their numbers.
We want to refer to them in several places. Which one is preferable in academic English writing and why?
In ...
8
votes
2answers
599 views
Why do I want to say “the iPhone” instead of just “iPhone”?
Apple is somewhat notorious for omitting articles when talking about their products, and statements such as "People love iPhone" hit my ear a little strangely. But when I stopped to think about it, I ...
0
votes
4answers
192 views
“Till the morning” or “till morning”?
Which of the following statements is more appropriate?
You have to stay here till the morning.
You have to stay here till morning.
The second one seems more fluent to me. What do you ...
-1
votes
5answers
475 views
When and why should I use 'the'
I have a problem with the definite article 'the' in following sentence from Wikipedia:
Some of the namespaces may or may not be officially considered part of the BCL by Microsoft, but all are ...
6
votes
2answers
261 views
Should there be an article before “mayor” in “the role of mayor”?
SimCity, for example, casts youth in the role of mayor.
I'm not sure if I understand the usage of zero article correctly. There is no article before 'mayor' as this is the instance where we ...
3
votes
4answers
213 views
Do I need to use 'the' in this sentence?
I would like to limit my dissertation to three spheres: economy, politics, and culture of America.
Do I need to add 'the' before economy, politics...?
3
votes
1answer
580 views
“The” before superlative [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Do I need to put “the” before “most” in this sentence?
I've always thought you need the definite article 'the' before the superlative of an adjective, except when the ...
5
votes
1answer
144 views
“An” average of vs. “The” average of
When nouns such as average, total, sum, etc., are modified by a prepositional phrase, how do you choose between the definite and indefinite articles? I cited sentences 1, 3, and 5 below from various ...
