The rain

Question

Hi!!
I am reading these essays by an American professor of English and I came across this sentence:
"Often I walked in rain".
It looks funny without "the" before "rain". Even if no rain has been previously mentioned. Shouldn't it be "Often I walked in the rain"? But he is a professor.
Is this correct English to say:
"I walked through rain". "I walked through snow."
Or do I follow the "no article for the first mention, the definite article once you mention it again"?
Thanks!!

Clive · Accepted Answer

It's an unusual and very literary kind of sentence.
My advice is not to consider it until you feel that your overall grasp of English is very good.

Clive

DorisPao · Answer

Thanks for your answer, but I am sorry: I don't quite follow you.
You say that it's "unusual and very literary", but it's not incorrect then?
If I tell my friend, "Two weeks ago I had a great walk. I walked in snow". If no snow has been mentioned and my friend, who is living in another country, doesn't know that it snowed two weeks ago. Is "in snow" okay? Or do I say "in the snow"?

DorisPao · Answer

Oh, and if I can't say "I walked in snow", can I say "I walked in heavy snow"? Or is it still "in the heavy snow?"
Sorry about all the questions, I just want to get it right.

Anonymous · Answer

This would be correct in certain contexts. You might look at this type of sentence as akin to sentences like:

Often I walked in silence.

Often I walked in sorrow.

Often I walked in thought.

Often I walked in darkness.

Often I walked in contemplation.

Anonymous · Answer

The sentences:  "Two weeks ago I had a great walk.  I walked in snow.", would be okay within a certain context.  "I walked in heavy snow." would also be correct in certain contexts.  These types of sentences, especially the first one, are literary-poetic in style.  The speaker or writer is trying to sound out-of-the-ordinary.  "I walked in the (heavy) snow." would be used in a more everyday type of situation.

DorisPao · Answer

I am even more confused now. Let me reframe the question.
1. I tell my friend, "Two weeks ago I had a great walk. I walked in snow". If no snow has been mentioned and my friend, who is living in another country, doesn't know that it snowed two weeks ago. Is "in snow" okay? Or do I say "in the snow"?
2. What about modifying the noun? "Heavy snow". If I have not mentioned any heavy snow, do I say "I walked in heavy snow" or "I walked in the heavy snow"?

Thank you. This should be easy for you, native speakers!

Anonymous · Answer

The sentence "I walked in snow." is literary-poetic in style and would not be used in a letter to a friend in another country telling him what you're doing. This has nothing to do with whether or not snowing was mentioned previously. It you're writing an everyday type of letter to a friend you'd say: "It's snowing here, and two weeks ago I had a great walk in the snow."

When you add the adjective "heavy", the sentence loses its literary-poetic flavor, and you can then use it in an everyday letter. For example: "It's snowing heavily here. Two weeks ago I had a great walk in heavy snow."

Xerxes · Answer

Perhaps I am wrong, but I think that this has something to do with the preposition "in". When used before some nouns (e.g. natural phenomena), you should use the definite article. In this case, you forget the use-the-definite-article-for-previously-unmentioned-nouns rule. For example:
1. I walked in the snow.
2. I walked in the rain.
3. Sharks live in the water.
It doesn't matter where snow, rain, and water have been previously mentioned. That's just the way it is, I am afraid. You're just going to have to accept that this is how we do it and follow the usage. It would be somewhat unnatural to say, "sharks live in water". Again, I think it's the "in" preposition. If you walk out of the house, you see snow, not "the snow":
I walked out of the house. There was snow/rain. (Not "~~there was the snow/rain~~").

As for your second question - when you modify these nouns, yes, you follow the usual rule. So.
1. I walked in heavy snow.
2. I walked in pouring rain.
3. This species lives in salty water.

Hope this helps.

Xerxes · Answer

XerxesAs for your second question - when you modify these nouns, yes, you follow the usual rule. So.1. I walked in heavy snow.2. I walked in pouring rain.3. This species lives in salty water.

An additional note. Obviously, if this quality of the snow being heavy, for example, has already been mentioned, then you slip the definite article when mentioning it for the second time. So:
We stepped out of the house. There was heavy snow, so had to drive home in the heavy snow.
Ignore the inelegant construction of this example; the intention is to show you how to use the definite article in such situations.

Xerxes · Answer

Actually, ignore my "in (the) water example. It's actually perfectly fine to say, "sharks live in water", etc. But everything else I said still stands.

The rain

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