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Swiss Jake Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

usage of article "the"

0Hi,02br
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00when is "the" used? And why are there words (see examples) which don't need the article "the"? What are those words.02br
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00Thanks a lot for helping.02br
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00Examples: Life it tough. It's good to be king.02br
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00In my German ear those sentences sound wrong.02br
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00Jake0-
  

Top answer

0 01font 00"Life it tough"02font 02br 00"Life" here is used with an abstract sense to mean the course of existence of an individual from birth to death. When "life" is used in this sense, it is an uncountable noun in English and it is a rule that uncountable nouns does not take "THE" when they are used in indefinite uses. 02br 00This is a phrase in a song and would not be used in everyday speech.

— Paco2004

  • 0 01font 00"Life it tough"02font 02br 00"Life" here is used with an abstract sense to mean the course of existence of an individual from birth to death.
  • When "life" is used in this sense, it is an uncountable noun in English and it is a rule that uncountable nouns does not take "THE" when they are used in indefinite uses.
  • 02br 00This is a phrase in a song and would not be used in everyday speech.
  • But "He is king of Dreamland" is a correct sentence.
  • You do not need to put "THE" to titles of such a kind that is given only to one person in an organization when the titles are used as the subject complement of predicative sentences.
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2 Answers
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0 01font00"Life it tough"02font02br
00"Life" here is used with an abstract sense to mean the course of existence of an individual from birth to death. When "life" is used in this sense, it is an uncountable noun in English and it is a rule that uncountable nouns does not take "THE" when they are used in indefinite uses. 02br
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0Hi Paco,02br
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01font00it is an uncountable noun in English and it is a rule that uncountable nouns does not take "THE" when they are used in indefinite uses.02font02br
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00That's what I have been looking for. Thanks Paco.02br
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00Jake0-
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