Can I omit these articles "the" here?

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20-Jan-2013, 09:17
anhnha

Can I omit these articles "the" here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by emsr2d2

Welcome to the forum.

We are not here to take the place of your grammar books and dictionaries. We are here to answer specific questions about problems you have with the English language.

Read the other posts in the forum and you will see the types of question we deal with.

There are two usages of the preposition "the" above that I don't understand.
I think that the two bold prepositions "the" can be omitted. Is it right?
What do they refer to?
20-Jan-2013, 09:56
emsr2d2

Re: Can I omit these articles "the" here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by anhnha

There are two usages of the preposition "the" above that I don't understand.
I think that the two bold prepositions "the" can be omitted. Is it right?
What do they refer to?

I could have omitted the first "the", leaving "Read other posts ..." although that would suggest only "Read some other posts". The second "the" is obligatory. I wanted to you to understand the specific types of question dealt with in the forum.
20-Jan-2013, 11:16
anhnha

Re: Can I omit these articles "the" here?

Thanks, here is my understanding about the use of the preposition "the":
-The first one, "the" is used to indicate that "there is only one". In this case, you consider "other posts" as an unit, and therefore, "the" used to mean only one as in the moon, the Earth,...
-The second one, "the" is used bacause reader knows exactly what you are referring to.
Is this right?
I feel confused.
Read the other posts in the forum and you will see the types of question we deal with.
"the forum": here is Usingenglish forum
"other posts in the forum": any post in the forum excluding the post you are responding
"the other posts in the forum": use "the" to mean all post? I am not sure about this.
"the types of question we deal with": I am still not sure about this. Does this mean that there are many types of question in the forum and only some of them can be deal with?
20-Jan-2013, 11:42
emsr2d2

Re: Can I omit these articles "the" here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by anhnha

"the types of question we deal with": I am still not sure about this. Does this mean that there are many types of question in the forum and only some of them can be deal with?

Yes, that is exactly what I mean. Sometimes people post a question like "Please help me with grammar" or "How to use the word WHAT". Those are not the kinds of things we deal with here. We expect people to study either at formal lessons or in their own time, using grammar books, dictionaries and of course, other internet resources. When people find something that they can't understand after researching it thoroughly, they come here for more help. We are not a replacement for actual study.