The 3 (children/the children)

Question 1

When we are talking about things or people in gen___, we do not use the.

Answer 1

When we are talking about things or people in general, we do not use the.

I’m afraid of dogs. _{(not the dogs/dogs in general, not a specific group of)}

Also, we say most people / most books / most cars, etc.:

Most hotels accept credit cars. (not the most hotels)

Question 2

We use the when we mean sp____ things or people.

Answer 2

We use the when we mean specific things or people.

Children learn from playing vs we took the children to the zoo.

I couldn’t live without music vs The movie wasn’t very good, but I liked the music.

But, the differenc between “something in general” and “something specific” isn’t alway’s clear:

Do you like strong black coffee _{(general idea)}? vs Did you like the coffee we had after dinner last night? _{(specific coffee)}

Question 3

With or without the? My favorite sport is ___ basketball.

Answer 3

With or without the? My favorite sport is ___ basketball.

Question 4

With or without the? My favorite subject at school was ___ history.

Answer 4

With or without the? My favorite subject at school was ___ history.

Question 5

With or without the? Do you like ___ classical music / Chineese food/ fasts cars?

Answer 5

With or without the? Do you like ___ classical music / Chineese food/ fasts cars?

Question 6

With or without the? Some people are afraid of ___ spiders.

Answer 6

With or without the? Some people are afraid of ___ spiders.

Question 7

With or without the? The test wasn’t very difficult. I answered ___ questions without any trouble.

Answer 7

With or without the? The test wasn’t very difficult. I answered the questions without any trouble.

^{(the questions of the test)}

Question 8

With or without the? Do you know ___ people who live next door?

Answer 8

With or without the? Do you know the people who live next door?

^{(specific ones)}

Question 9

With or without the? We couldn’t find anywhere to stay downtown. All ___ hotels were full.

Answer 9

With or without the? We couldn’t find anywhere to stay downtown. All the hotels were full.

^{(specific ones: downtown’s hotels)}

Question 10

With or without the? Can you pass __\_ salt, please?

Answer 10

With or without the? Can you pass the salt, please?

^{(specific one)}

Question 11

With or without the? I like ___ skiing, but I’m not very good at it.

Answer 11

With or without the? I like ___ skiing, but I’m not very good at it.

^{(skiing in general)}

Question 12

With or without the? What makes people violent? What causes ___ agression.

Answer 12

With or without the? What makes people violent? What causes ___ agression.

(agression here = “agressivité”)

Question 13

With or without the? Don’t stay in that hotel. It’s very noisy and ___ beds are very uncomfortable.

Answer 13

With or without the? Don’t stay in that hotel. It’s very noisy and the beds are very uncomfortable.

^{(specific ones, beds of that hotel)}

Question 14

With or without the? I’d like to go to Egypt and see ___ Pyramids.

Answer 14

With or without the? I’d like to go to Egypt and see the Pyramids.

^{(specific ones, Egypt’s Pyramids)}

Question 15

With or without the? Someone gave me a book about ___ history of ___ modern art.

Answer 15

With or without the? Someone gave me a book about the history of ___ modern art.

^{(éviter surdétermination)}

Question 16

With or without the? ___ most people believe that ___ marriage and ___ family lifer are the basis of ___ society.

Answer 16

With or without the? ___ Most people believe that ___ marriage and ___ family lifer are the basis of ___ society.

^{(we say “most people”)}