"the" questions - question 1

[Anna Xpomoba]

By the way do you like articles?

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Originally Posted by Anna Xpomoba

P.S. about novels
If you speak about it in general so you should say
"Novel is the most..."
or
"The novel is the most...."
But if you start to speak about a particular novel
"A novel is the most..." would be correct
Anna

Hmm... are you sure? I guess that if I say "a novel is..." I don't mean any novel in particular...

and, I suppose that there has to be something before "novel" in "Novel is the most..." I mean, how come that we can simply leave it without any determiner ?

[Anna Xpomoba]

I'm sure

"Novel is the most..." is with zero article

[Anna Xpomoba]

"a novel ..."

For example,

"I read a novel last week. I was fascinated with the novel."

But in these cases you speak about particular novel, I mean not in general

A

[MrPedantic]

Sorry to butt in again...

If you speak about it in general so you should say
"Novel is the most..."

Actually, you would need a determiner here: it isn't possible to say simply "novel" (though you can say "novels"). For instance:

1. A good novel is a sound investment.
2. The English novel was originally heavily influenced by Cervantes.
3. Novels are a waste of money. Buy textbooks on quantum mechanics instead.

But not:

4. Novel is a sound investment, etc.

MrP