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This may be a trivial question but not for non-native. It is a bit confusing whether I should use the before internet or not.

heavy reliance on internet services in people's daily life

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heavy reliance on the internet services in people's daily life

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2 Answers 2

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A preferred method of writing is often to use as little extra words as possible. In this case, not using "the" is grammatically correct since people are relying on internet services. Using "the" is more awkward and not necessary. Also, at the end of the sentence there is the phrase "people's life", but since "people" refers to multiple persons, the word "life" should be replaced with "lives", so the phrase would read, "heavy reliance on internet services in people's daily lives".

Although you should try not to use too many excess words, the question of whether or not to emphasize "internet services" with the article "the" depends on the first part of the sentence.

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In 'internet services' the word 'internet' is a noun adjunct and the phrase as a whole should not have an article because the main noun is 'services' and plural nouns when used in general do not take an article.

When you're speaking of the internet as a whole or in the abstract, it does take the definite article (as in this sentence).

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  • Perhaps this answer might be improved with "...the phrase as a whole should not have an article because the main noun is services and plural nouns when used in general do not take an article" or something similar.
    – Andrew Leach
    Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 0:11

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