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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Definite article plurals
I've got a question:
I've come across a rule that says if you generalise about the members of a group you don't use "the", but if you generalise about the group as a whole you are more likely to use "the", like in
Stars vary greatly in size. Farmers often voite conservative.
The starts are shining brightly tonight. or What has the government done for the farmers.
Could someone add some more examples or develop the rule to help me grasp it. And is it applicable to the example
I'd like to discuss the meaning of the English prepositions.
Thank you in advance for your help.
I've come across a rule that says if you generalise about the members of a group you don't use "the", but if you generalise about the group as a whole you are more likely to use "the", like in
Stars vary greatly in size. Farmers often voite conservative.
The starts are shining brightly tonight. or What has the government done for the farmers.
Could someone add some more examples or develop the rule to help me grasp it. And is it applicable to the example
I'd like to discuss the meaning of the English prepositions.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
When to use articles is a difficult thing to learn for a non-native speaker. Native speakers know all the myriad situations by instinct, and there are no rules that can cover all of these. This is just something you've got to learn by experience.
- When to use articles is a difficult thing to learn for a non-native speaker.
- Native speakers know all the myriad situations by instinct, and there are no rules that can cover all of these.
- This is just something you've got to learn by experience.
- " Explaining all of the above is very difficult to do.
- There are no rules for all of this.
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2 Answers
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When to use articles is a difficult thing to learn for a non-native speaker. Native speakers know all the myriad situations by instinct, and there are no rules that can cover all of these. This is just something you've got to learn by experience.
For example,
"Stars vary greatly in size." is correct but so is "The stars vary greatly in size."
"Stars are shining brightl
For example,
"Stars vary greatly in size." is correct but so is "The stars vary greatly in size."
"Stars are shining brightl
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Here are couple of references on using definite and indefinite articles in English:
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/articlestext.htm
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/articlestext.htm
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