Die of (the) mold from the damp
From To Kill a Mockingbird:
The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes, so Boo was locked in the courthouse basement.
Boo’s transition from the basement to back home was nebulous in Jem’s memory. Miss Stephanie Crawford said some of the town council told Mr. Radley that if he didn’t take Boo back, Boo would die of mold from the damp.
I wonder why it's not "the mold." What's the difference between "mold" and "the mold" in this context?
Top answer
"die of" is typically followed by a noun without "the". die of starvation; die of hunger; die of thirst; die of shame; die of grief The cause of death is conceptualized as an uncountable condition. "the" is used, however, when the intent is to refer to a disease already mentioned earlier, like this: Only 1 of 10 men with prostate cancer will die of the disease .
- "die of" is typically followed by a noun without "the".
- die of starvation; die of hunger; die of thirst; die of shame; die of grief The cause of death is conceptualized as an uncountable condition.
- "the" is used, however, when the intent is to refer to a disease already mentioned earlier, like this: Only 1 of 10 men with prostate cancer will die of the disease .
- the disease refers to the specific disease mentioned earlier in the sentence.
- Without that previous mention you have Only 1 of 10 men will die of prostate cancer (no "the").
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"die of" is typically followed by a noun without "the".
die of starvation; die of hunger; die of thirst; die of shame; die of grief
The cause of death is conceptualized as an uncountable condition.
"the" is used, however, when the intent is to refer to a disease already mentioned earlier, like this:
Only 1 of 10 men with prostate cancer will die of
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