Would you please tell me if I need to use an or the in before average in the context below? 176cm is an/the average height for men in the US. I’ve heard both. Are both acceptable? If so, can you tell me what is the slight difference between them. Answer You would say "176cm is … Read more
Does regular basis needs an article before it? Use computers on regular basis vs. Use computers on a regular basis Answer A basis (meaning the way something happens, or is done or organized) is a singular noun and requires an indefinite article. I stroke my cat on a regular basis I call my mother on … Read more
Which of these sentences is correct? I am playing a “the Lord of the Rings” game. VS I am playing a “Lord of the Rings” game. And which of these is correct? I want to watch some “the Lord of the Rings.” VS I want to watch some “Lord of the Rings.” I am having … Read more
As far as I concern if we want to refer to someting which name is in spanish (and I´m talking in English) we don’t have to traslate it to English, however, It’s necessary to use the definite article ¨The¨ before it following the rules like with a noun in English? An example of this could … Read more
I heard the following sentence in a presentation from a native speaker: During the tough times, do you drift apart or stick together? I wonder why the definite article "the" is used before the phrase "tough times". I thought we typically do not use the definite article "the" before general plural nouns because in such … Read more
Please consider the following two pairs of sentences. The two choices under each pair differ only in the use of the definite article "the": Pair 1: (A) He talked about validation of the new product. (B) He talked about the validation of the new product. Pair 2: (A) The new feature can make control of … Read more
When I searched from the NOW corpus, I found that there are more instances of "earn minimum wage" than "earn the minimum wage", with many results from big US news websites. Why is this? According to most dictionaries, wage is a countable noun, so "earn minimum wage" must be incorrect. But I do find that … Read more
Yesterday I took a photo of raindrops and posted it to Instagram. I used “Raindrops on the window pane” as the description. Then I started to think: Why did I use the definite article here? When I said the phrase in my mind with the indefinite article, “Raindrops on a window pane”, it didn’t sound … Read more
I never saw my classmates after the graduation. I never saw my classmates after graduation. Is it necessary to use in above-mentioned sentences "the" article? I suppose it is because I speak about a certain graduation. But in the same time I saw in a dictionary: After graduation, she wants to travel around Europe. There … Read more
Hippocrates cured many illnesses—and then fell ill and died. The Chaldaeans predicted the deaths of many others; in due course their own hour arrived. (Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, translated by Gregory Hays.) My misunderstanding is why the word deaths is used with the here. There is no context preceding this sentence in which we could … Read more
