Articles ‘the’ before general concepts
1 Tick the correct sentence in each pair
1 a Some people worry about the negative effects of mobile phones on brain.
b Some people worry about the negative effects of mobile phones on the brain.
-> b, because we say about general brain, in a -> which brain? 2 a We need to look at factors such as the availability of health care.
b We need to look at factors such as availability of health care.
-> a
We use the before nouns which describe a general type of thing rather than a specific example of that thing:
There are problems for students living away from the family.
We don’t know the effects of such chemicals on the body.
The role of the student at university level varies greatly from country to country.
Most of our business is carried out over the telephone.
The is also used before abstract nouns which describe a situation, a quality, a process or a change. These words are often followed by of something:
There is a problem with the availability of clean water in some villages.
The distribution of income is uneven in most countries.
On the whole, the standard of living is better in urban areas.
Many residents complained about the frequency of bus services.
This advance was brought about by the development of antibiotics.
He made a number of recommendations for the improvement of staff training.
We use the development/improvement, etc of something to describe a general of change, but developments/improvements, etc in something to describe specific changes:
We try to keep up-to-date with new developments in information technology.
2 Correct the mistake below
Doctors always stress the importance of a balanced diet.
3 Are there sentences right or wrong? Correct those containing mistakes.
A diet high in cholesterol is bad for heart -> the heart.
The introduction of computerized systems led to an increase in unemployment -> the unemployment.
We all benefit from development of new technologies. the development of
We were unhappy about the quality of the food available.
Last year the airline saw a 20% improvement in delays. improvements in
There have been changes in the relationship between the teacher and the student. the relationship -> correct, the student and the teacher -> correct, general student
Rates vary depending on standard of accommodation you choose. -> the accommodation
She focused on the role of a family in a child’s education. -> families in, general concept, use plural
- “The family” → refers to the family as an institution or concept.
“Families” → plural, general concept.
“A family” → refers to one specific family, which doesn’t fit here.