One of the grammar issues that students of English constantly get wrong is the omission or presence of the article the. In fact, the very usual mistake is using it when it has to be omitted (because ‘the’ really is the definite article, so if you mean people in general, you have to say ‘people’, not ‘the people’, which refers to definite, specific, particular people the addressee can identify). This therefore implies that one means to generalise but is actually talking about a specific, concrete case, which frequently creates misunderstandings.
There are three grammar categories of common nouns in English:
(a) singular count nouns (cup, woman);
(b) plural nouns (cups, women);
(c) uncount nouns (love, sugar).
Plural nouns are of course countable, and uncountable nouns are necessarily singular.
You don’t usually have problems with the before nouns in group (a), but you normally do with the before the nouns in the other groups (because of the Spanish translation, which is often with the definite article, but whose rules are very different and really complicated).
When you use a noun of these two categories (b, c) in English, you omit the article the if you are making a generalization (cups in general, women in general; love as a concept, in the general sense; sugar as a product, sugar in general), and only use the if you are speaking about a definite, specific number (e.g. of women), or amount or instance (e.g. of love or sugar).
Thus, the important concept to understand is this: general or specific?
General: omit the!!
Specific: use the (as in Spanish).
Therefore, the is used in many cases, including when the noun is followed by a prepositional phrase - especially of - (the love of one’s children, the sugar in the bowl) or a relative clause (the love that you give me, the sugar you put in your coffee). But its NOT used when you say Love is important, All you need is love, Sugar is sweet or ‘I like sugar’. Normally (but not always), the mistake in these cases (the love, the sugar) takes place at the beginning of the sentence, because the subject in Spanish almost always has the definite article instead of no article: see the underlined sentences.
Study these other examples:
· Some people think men are better at mathematics than women. I think they’re wrong.
· The group consisted of three men and seven women. I only interviewed the men; the women are coming tomorrow.
· Don’t you think people are sometimes too proud of themselves?
· Tell the people they must get on the bus at once.
· Doctors usually have illegible handwriting.
· At the congress, the doctors were all American.
· Not all languages are written.
· Can you speak all the languages that she speaks?
· Love, health and money are important for many people to achieve happiness.
· Have you returned her the money? No? You should do it soon, since she needs those those thousand euros.
When you use an adjective (or more) before a noun and it is also a generalization, you still omit the article, even though the generalization is then partial:
· He finds fair women attractive.
· Naughty children don’t get Christmas presents.
· I like modern art.
· Brown cane sugar is better for the recipe, and I like it better.
BUT: Will you pass me the brown cane sugar in front of you? [that specific sugar]
Actually, there are just a few cases where both possibilities are correct (borderline cases in which the generalization is really/clearly restricted and partial). The second rule (which expands or is an extension of the basic one), in any case, is this:
If a noun phrase just includes real preposed adjectives (not some or your, for instance, which are determiners) a but it does not really refer to specific cases, omit the (I like foreign languages); but if it is followed by a relative clause (I like the foreign languages you speak) or prepositional phrase (I like the languages in this country), do use it if you do not know whether to use it or not, even if it is somehow a generalization and it is sometimes not the better option: I like people with good manners is actually a generalization (=I like well-mannered people) and is the right option. In short, there is a small percentage of dubious cases (very few or none for a native, actually!).
A particular case is when you refer to all the people of a country, you can choose between two typical possibilities: Dutch people or the Dutch; French people or the French; Spanish people or the Spaniards; American people or the Americans.
Of course, there are more cases of the presence or absence of the definite article apart from the ones we have dealt with (e.g. play the guitar; I like basketball).
EXERCISE
Fill in the gaps with the article the or use a dash (-) to indicate it is cannot be used.
Example:
- water is now in short supply. Just use the water you really need.
1) She’s already wrapped up all .............. presents.
2) I usually find .............. white wine sweeter than .............. red wine.
3) She’s specialised in .............. brain diseases.
4) .............. art of Picasso and these other masters changed .............. history of .............. art.
5) .............. water freezes at 0º Celsius.
6) Did .............. Poles fight .............. Russians at that war?
7) .............. Spanish women were less liberated than .............. ones in those countries.
8) Don’t take .............. glasses out of the cupboard. There are enough of them here.
9) You must do all .............. exercises now.
10) He seems to like all .............. sports.
11) I have employed all .............. letters in the alphabet.
12) Some of .............. players are still not ready for such an important match.
13) .............. children’s psychology is quite different to .............. grown-ups’. Everyone knows that.
14) Yes, I’m interested in .............. computers, but not in .............. computers you are showing me.
15) I don’t think I’ve got a good memory. There are three things I always forget: .............. names, .............. faces and - I don’t remember the third.
16) I like .............. beer, but not .............. warm beer, so I won’t drink this.
17) .............. Italians are usually fond of football, but of course many don’t like it.
18) Don’t put all .............. eggs in just one basket.
19) Have you read .............. morning papers.
20) Nowadays .............. Spanish families aren’t as large as they used to be.
ANSWERS
1) the
2) -- / --
3) --
4) The / the / --
5) --
6) the / the
7) -- / the
8) the
9) the
10) --
11) the
12) the
13) -- / --
[the psychology of children > children’s psychology – the article of the second element (the psychology) is omitted in the noun phrase containing the genitive case; the other possibility (the children’s psychology) would refer to some specific children]
14) -- / the
15) -- / --
16) -- / --
17) The
18) the
19) the
20) --
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario