stwi m4 the or not the

7/23/2019 STWI M4 the or Not The http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/stwi-m4-the-or-not-the 1/2 Th e or not th e – that is the question! The commonest word in English is the; in every hundred words of correct English on average the appears 6 times. It is even more frequent when learners of English write; in every hundred words of learner English the appears an average of 7 times. The fact is, learners of English sometimes use the when they should not; using the when it shouldn’t be used accounts for nearly 3% of all mistakes in student writing. Mostly this excessive use of the occurs before nouns in the plural form ( the potatoes, the groups, for example) and before uncountable nouns ( the alcohol and the democracy, for example). The problem is that often it is correct to write th e before plural nouns and uncount nouns, and often it isn’t correct. So, when should we use the before plural nouns and uncount nouns? And when shouldn’t we? Let’s look at these sentences: a) Tom likes potatoes b) Tom likes the potatoes Both sentences are correct English – and both have the same translation in Spanish: A Tom le gustan las patatas. But they have different meanings … Tom likes the potatoes refers to some specific potatoes that Tom likes – perhaps the potatoes he has for dinner, or the potatoes he eats in his favourite restaurant, or the potatoes he buys in his local shop …. If you write Tom likes the potatoes your readers should know which potatoes Tom likes; that is, you should make clear which specific potatoes you are referring to. On the other hand, if you write Tom likes potatoes, then you are saying that Tom likes potatoes in general; probably potatoes are one of Tom’s favourite foods. So the key question when you have to decide whether to write the potatoes or just potatoes, is: What are you referring to – potatoes in general or some specific potatoes? Let’s look at two sentences with the uncount noun democracy: a) Many Greek writers and philosophers criticised the democracy. b) Many Greek writers and philosophers criticised democracy. (Again we would probably translate both sentences into Spanish in the same way: Muchos escritores y filósofos griegos criticaron la democracia.) In the first sentence the writer is referring to some specific democracy, and the preceding sentences probably answer the question, “Which specific democracy is the writer referring to?” In the second sentence the writer means democracy in general. Sometimes uncount nouns are made specific by the wider context in which they occur, sometimes by adjectives that precede them or the words that follow them. For example: He wrote about the intense hatred that he encountered because of the colour of his skin. ( Escribió sobre el odio intenso que encontró debido al color de su piel .) Here intense and especially that he encountered help to make this a specific hatred and it’s easy to answer the question: Which specific hatred is the writer referring to? Compare with a sentence like

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7/23/2019 STWI M4 the or Not The

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/stwi-m4-the-or-not-the 1/2

The or not the – that is the question!

The commonest word in English is the; in every hundred words of correct English on

average the appears 6 times. It is even more frequent when learners of English write; in

every hundred words of learner English the appears an average of 7 times. The fact is,

learners of English sometimes use the when they should not; using the when it shouldn’t be used accounts for nearly 3% of all mistakes in student writing.

Mostly this excessive use of the occurs before nouns in the plural form (the potatoes,

the groups, for example) and before uncountable nouns (the alcohol and the democracy,

for example). The problem is that often it is correct to write the before plural nouns

and uncount nouns, and often it isn’t correct.

So, when should we use the before plural nouns and uncount nouns? And when

shouldn’t we? Let’s look at these sentences:

a) Tom likes potatoes b) Tom likes the potatoes

Both sentences are correct English – and both have the same translation in Spanish: A

Tom le gustan las patatas. But they have different meanings … Tom likes the potatoes

refers to some specific potatoes that Tom likes – perhaps the potatoes he has for dinner,

or the potatoes he eats in his favourite restaurant, or the potatoes he buys in his local

shop …. If you write Tom likes the potatoes your readers should know which potatoes

Tom likes; that is, you should make clear which specific potatoes you are referring to.

On the other hand, if you write Tom likes potatoes, then you are saying that Tom likes

potatoes in general; probably potatoes are one of Tom’s favourite foods. So the key

question when you have to decide whether to write the potatoes or just potatoes, is:

What are you referring to – potatoes in general or some specific potatoes?

Let’s look at two sentences with the uncount noun democracy:

a) Many Greek writers and philosophers criticised the democracy.

b) Many Greek writers and philosophers criticised democracy.

(Again we would probably translate both sentences into Spanish in the same way:

Muchos escritores y filósofos griegos criticaron la democracia.) In the first sentence the

writer is referring to some specific democracy, and the preceding sentences probablyanswer the question, “Which specific democracy is the writer referring to?” In the

second sentence the writer means democracy in general.

Sometimes uncount nouns are made specific by the wider context in which they occur,

sometimes by adjectives that precede them or the words that follow them. For example:

He wrote about the intense hatred that he encountered because of the colour of his skin.

( Escribió sobre el odio intenso que encontró debido al color de su piel .)

Here intense and especially that he encountered help to make this a specific hatred and

it’s easy to answer the question: Which specific hatred is the writer referring to?Compare with a sentence like