Thursday, January 15, 2004, 16:00 GMT
My Italian girlfriend can speak English, but she is having trouble about knowing when to leave "the" out of sentences. I've told her that in plurals, "the" is often omitted-
e.g. "I like THE rainbow"
or "I like rainbows." When it's plural, "the" is ommited. But it confuses Italian speakers, because they say "I like THE rainbows."
But I've noticed cases of plurals in which "the" is left in the sentence. For example, we can say "I used to work in THE coalmines when I was younger."
So, how do we know in which plural sentences "the" is omitted, and in which plural sentences "the" is left in? I'm an English speaker, but even I find it hard to explain to someone from Italy.
e.g. "I like THE rainbow"
or "I like rainbows." When it's plural, "the" is ommited. But it confuses Italian speakers, because they say "I like THE rainbows."
But I've noticed cases of plurals in which "the" is left in the sentence. For example, we can say "I used to work in THE coalmines when I was younger."
So, how do we know in which plural sentences "the" is omitted, and in which plural sentences "the" is left in? I'm an English speaker, but even I find it hard to explain to someone from Italy.