Usage of 'the' and its absence

Question

What meaning do the following sentences convey with and without the article 'the'?

1- The workers in the unorganized sector need protection on the following issues: wages, safety and health.

2- The people in India are good at mathematics.

3- The students at this school are requested to be present at the ground at the time of prayers to Jesus.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

cat deskwith and without the article 'the'

There is little difference. I can only give you my impressions. Others may have a different way of interpreting the difference.

The use of 'the' makes the subject phrases seem more all-inclusive.

the workers (in ...) ~ ALL the workers ...
the people (in India) ~ ALL the people ...
the students (at ...) ~ ALL the students ...

The absence of 'the' seems to indicate a less inclusive grouping, as if to say 'certain ones, maybe all, maybe just some'. This makes the form without 'the' somewhat more ambiguous and dependent on context.

workers (in ...) ~ (some, or maybe all) workers ...
people (in India) ~ (some, or maybe all) people ...
students (at ...) ~ (some, or maybe all) students ...

Here's something that I found online that says basically the same thing, but elaborates on the idea with a longer explanation and examples. Like me, this writer took his cue from Huddleston and Pullum.

Huddleston and Pullum ... give the explanation that [the] use of the [definite] article ["the"] together with plural or non-count NPs is indicative of totality. This section in the book is really short and not really well-explained, but here is the idea in my own words. When you say:

 I hate the residents of that tall building.

You are saying you hate all of them. You are taking all the people living in that building as a whole, as a collective unity, and you hate that collective unity. It doesn't matter if someone has just moved in yesterday, you still hate them. Probably because you want to buy the land that building is sitting on and anyone living there is in your way. So you hate them all. But if you say:

  I hate residents of that tall building.

There is much less of an assertion that "everybody in that building is hated". You are instead saying you hate some, maybe most, people living in that building for some reason. It could also be everyone in the building that you hate, but without the definite article you are not making that strong of a statement. Maybe you live close by and you are annoyed by the constant noise coming from that building. You don't know who causes the noise. You only know it is from that building. So it's very likely that only a small number of people are responsible for the noise-making.

— from https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/275541/when-is-it-specific-enough-for-the-to-be-used-e-g-potential-article-nou

CJ

Usage of 'the' and its absence

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