[Grammar] 'the' before noun+of

[jaypark8383]

Hello,

This is something that has confused me for a long time. I've look that up in different grammar books so far, to no avail.

As far as I know, in English, we need 'the' before '(abstract or not)noun+of' in general. However, I often see cases where 'noun+of' is not preceded by the article 'the'. Could anybody tell me the general rules and exceptions applied to the article 'the' usage in this case?

To help you to have a better understanding of what I am saying, let me give you an example. "That is how the girl from Stevens Point was found by circulation of her picture on tv." In the example provided, there is no 'the' before 'circulation of her picture on TV". Why is that? Can I put the article 'the' there if I want to? If not, why?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Deepurple]

"That is how the girl from Stevens Point was found by circulation of her picture on tv." Both are acceptable to me. According to my observation, nowadays, the definite article is often omitted when the head noun of the of-phrase is derived from an action word like "circulate" in the example. (Not a teacher)

 

[eager]

I think this is more the matter of the use of the articles before uncountable nouns rather than before abstract ones.Of course,The abstract nouns can be both countable and uncountable.

The nouns can be used in a general,non-specific and specific way.

All we need now is circulation - general

That is how the girl from Stevens Point was found by circulation of her picture on tv - non-specific referring to circulation of "her picture",but still introduced for the first time.

In this particular case the use of circulation would be non-specific,which means that you are referring to any one of many possible items, or are introducing a noun for the first time in the text.According to this rule It may be considerable to put "some" before circulation.

I think the very next time when you mention circulation of her picture,you should use the before it.

Furthermore,the circulation of her picture has helped us to find her.-specific -already mentioned

The circulation of your blood keep you alive -specific(addressed to reader or listener) - reader or listener know what we are talking about although the first time mentioned in some text or conversation.

you could refer to this resource.

Even grammarians say that the proper usage of articles is one of the hardest parts of the English grammar .

Just my opinion.(not a teacher)