Yet another set of sentences I'm having doubts about...

Question

Howdy,Here are some sentences that I've written and I just'd like you to clear up the difficulties I'm having with them. Thanks in advance! I'd be most grateful if somebody could explain their reasons for the usage of this or that word, article, whatever 1. Would you say in this sentence:a) through or throughoutb) the ages/agesHumanity's peregrination through(out) the ages ?2. Should there be a/the definite article in front of human kind ? If so, why?As many propagators of such theories as many different reasons for why the world should perish and the human kind along with it.3. Do we say the apocalypse and the judgment day or can we omit the definite article?4. The same question but different phrases: the atomic bomb or simply atomic bomb ?The invention of the atomic bomb and later the hydrogen bomb5. Again, with or without the ?Potential feasibility that the Homo sapiens gained the ability to end all life on earth must have led to the redefinition of human condition and our place in the world.Thanks, I'm afraid there's some more sentences coming...

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

anglista20081. Would you say in this sentence:

a) through or throughout Either is OK, but "through" means a continuous journey; and "throughout" can imply punctuated periods in the interval.

b) the ages/ages The definite article is needed in this case, because it is a specific unit of time. "I haven't seen him in ages." No article is used in this case - "age" is used as a generality.

Humanity's peregrination through(out) the ages ?

2. Should there be a/the definite article in front of human kind ? If so, why?

As many propagators of such theories as many different reasons for why the world should perish and the human kind along with it.
No definite article. Human kind is a generality.

3. Do we say the apocalypse and the judgment day or can we omit the definite article?

The apocalypse. "Judgement day" - Generally not; it depends on the context. "Judgement day is nigh." (No article.) Christ will return on the Judgement Day. (optional)

4. The same question but different phrases: the atomic bomb or simply atomic bomb ?

The invention of the atomic bomb and later the hydrogen bomb
The definite article is needed here - it is a specific item.

5. Again, with or without the ? Without. **** Sapiens is a generality.

Potential feasibility that ~~the~~ **** sapiens gained the ability to end all life on earth must have led to the redefinition of human condition and our place in the world.

Fandorin · Answer

anglista2008 Humanity's peregrination through(out) the ages ?

Through is the only choice here. Through is used in reference to a movement or passage that proceeds linearly; throughout to a movement or passage that proceeds spatially. In your example, there is no difference to me, but I might mistake.

anglista20082. Should there be a/the definite article in front of human kind ? If so, why?

There are as many propagators of such theories as many different reasons for why the world should perish along with the human kind.

The human is the whole population on the Earth. You can omit "kind". I'd use "the" because of uniqueness of existence of such a kind.

anglista20083. Do we say the apocalypse and the judgment day or can we omit the definite article?

The should be used in both cases. We can't omit them. Those events are well known.

anglista20084. The same question but different phrases: the atomic bomb or simply atomic bomb ?

The invention of an atomic bomb and later a hydrogen bomb.

One simple rule. If the noun is singular, don't leave it withoiut article. It is not true if the noun has a determiner (his, this, its, ...) and there are some exceptions. You're reffering to the bomb specific. So, use a defenite article.

anglista20085. Again, with or without the ?

Potential feasibility that the [type] **** sapiens gained the ability to end all the life on earth must have led to the redefinition of human condition and our place in the world.

Andromeda13 · Answer

I'm sorry, I'm a native speaker and it is hard for me to analyze what I do naturally, but I will try to help.

**For all of your sentences, it is correct either way. However, each question has a specific answer that sounds better. I will try to explain, but there really is no rule about most of these.

1. throughout
either one could be used, but throughout is almost always used here.

use through when it is necessary, and throughout when you don't have to use either one.
also, throughout implies thoroughness, or doing something completely. Through is used when you mean straight through, like a hole in a donut. Throughout means in all of it.

examples:
1 We went through the forest.
- Here, "through" is necessary to understand the sentence. You can't say, "We went the forest."
If you said, "We went throughout the forest," it would mean you went to every part of the forest.
2 The worm ate through the apple. -The worm ate a single hole in the middle of the apple.
The worm ate throughout the apple. -The worm ate all over the apple.
3 We were bored through the play.
We were bored throughout the play. -We were even more bored than the first sentence.

Okay, this is the confusing part. You can also put throughout at the end of the sentence, but usually only when using the passive voice. If the definition of through fits your sentence more, you can't put it at the end.

examples:
1 You can't use it at the end in the forest sentence.
2 The apple was eaten by the worm throughout.
3 The play bored us throughout.

2. Don't use an article in front of human kind. There is only one, so nobody can confuse it with another. Using the word "the" means that you are singling one out of many.

3. Say "the apocalypse." I don't know why, but here is my guess: There have been many apocalypses predicted in history. So you can say "an apocalypse" or "the apocalypse."

examples:
1 The Zombie Apocalypse
2 an apocalypse for any of these reasons: meteor, epidemic, nuclear war..... etc.

Don't use an article with Judgment Day. You can say "The Judgment Day" but nobody does. There can't be more than one judgment day, so don't say "a judgment day."

The difference between these two is very confusing, and even I don't know what it is. **The best thing to do is find an example from a book or a good website, because it is different for each word.**

4. The atomic bomb. (there are many)

This sentence is confusing (they all are!) because we used "the atomic bomb" even when there was only one atomic bomb in existence.

However we usually just said "the bomb", and the "the" showed that we were talking about the really big, scary atomic bomb instead of normal bombs.

5. Potential feasibility that the **** sapiens gained the ability to end all life on earth must have led to the redefinition of human condition and our place in the world.

this sentence is correct.

"**** sapien" is the Latin, or scientific, name for "human." There are many humans, so use "the."

If you are talking about all of something, use "the." For instance, "all of the plants on Earth," "all of the animals," "all of the mushrooms," etc.

Also, there are many earths (in different universes and galaxies and solar systems) so use "the" when saying the earth and don't use "the" when talking about Earth. Say "the mother" and "Mother."

There are many abilities, so say "the" when talking about one of them.

**You can't talk about a verb in the form of a noun (example: redefine -> redefinition, discover -> discovery, combine -> combination) without using an article. You have to say "the/a redefinition," "the/a discovery" etc.

Andromeda13 · Answer

I'm sorry, I'm a native speaker and it is hard for me to analyze what I do naturally, but I will try to help.

**For all of your sentences, it is correct either way. However, each question has a specific answer that sounds better. I will try to explain, but there really is no rule about most of these.

1. throughout
either one could be used, but throughout is almost always used here.

use through when it is necessary, and throughout when you don't have to use either one.
also, throughout implies thoroughness, or doing something completely. Through is used when you mean straight through, like a hole in a donut. Throughout means in all of it.

examples:
1 We went through the forest.
- Here, "through" is necessary to understand the sentence. You can't say, "We went the forest."
If you said, "We went throughout the forest," it would mean you went to every part of the forest.
2 The worm ate through the apple. -The worm ate a single hole in the middle of the apple.
The worm ate throughout the apple. -The worm ate all over the apple.
3 We were bored through the play.
We were bored throughout the play. -We were even more bored than the first sentence.

Okay, this is the confusing part. You can also put throughout at the end of the sentence, but usually only when using the passive voice. If the definition of through fits your sentence more, you can't put it at the end.

examples:
1 You can't use it at the end in the forest sentence.
2 The apple was eaten by the worm throughout.
3 The play bored us throughout.

2. Don't use an article in front of human kind. There is only one, so nobody can confuse it with another. Using the word "the" means that you are singling one out of many.

3. Say "the apocalypse." I don't know why, but here is my guess: There have been many apocalypses predicted in history. So you can say "an apocalypse" or "the apocalypse."

examples:
1 The Zombie Apocalypse
2 an apocalypse for any of these reasons: meteor, epidemic, nuclear war..... etc.

Don't use an article with Judgment Day. You can say "The Judgment Day" but nobody does. There can't be more than one judgment day, so don't say "a judgment day."

The difference between these two is very confusing, and even I don't know what it is. **The best thing to do is find an example from a book or a good website, because it is different for each word.**

4. The atomic bomb. (there are many)

This sentence is confusing (they all are!) because we used "the atomic bomb" even when there was only one atomic bomb in existence.

However we usually just said "the bomb", and the "the" showed that we were talking about the really big, scary atomic bomb instead of normal bombs.

5. Potential feasibility that the **** sapiens gained the ability to end all life on earth must have led to the redefinition of human condition and our place in the world.

this sentence is correct.

"**** sapien" is the Latin, or scientific, name for "human." There are many humans, so use "the."

If you are talking about all of something, use "the." For instance, "all of the plants on Earth," "all of the animals," "all of the mushrooms," etc.

Also, there are many earths (in different universes and galaxies and solar systems) so use "the" when saying the earth and don't use "the" when talking about Earth. Say "the mother" and "Mother."

There are many abilities, so say "the" when talking about one of them.

**You can't talk about a verb in the form of a noun (example: redefine -> redefinition, discover -> discovery, combine -> combination) without using an article. You have to say "the/a redefinition," "the/a discovery" etc.

Anglista2008 · Answer

wow... thank you so much people... thanks for answering so thoroughly... appreciate it

I don't want to worry you but there's gonna be some more questions I'm afraid...

cheers!

EDIT: I just have one more question concerning "human kind". You guys say that I should omit "the", right? What about "human race" ? Cause in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary I've found this sentence and I'm a bit confused:

The human race has enough weapons to annihilate itself.

Anglista2008 · Answer

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Yet another set of sentences I'm having doubts about...

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