Definite article vs no article with a specific example.
I'm trying to explain why the two examples below use the definite article and no article specifically.
A garden gnome was stolen and taken around the world. The owner of the garden gnome received a letter with a photo of the gnome in France. 1) THE letters continued every day for a month, with 2) (no article) photographs of the gnome in different parts of the world.
Can we alternate 1) or 2) with either the definite article or no article? I understand we can use the definite article to refer to introduced nouns and for specific plural nouns within a greater group. But I'd like to understand how the no article in 1) and the definite article in 2) would work here. Thank you.
Re: Definite article vs no article with a specific example.
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
I think that in #1 we can use zero article before "letters". "Letters" would refer to letters in general, not some specific letters. I wouldn't use an article before "photographs".
My $0.02.
Re: Definite article vs no article with a specific example.
Thanks for the reply. I thought that the article before "letters" would be more appropriate for the reason you already have given. I guess the use of the article in the second second example really depends on how much emphasis the speaker wants to give it.
