[Grammar] Article in front of subject

[leslieking]

Hello,
I have two statements:

1. The boy and the girl are watching the fish.
2. The boy and girl are watching the fish.

I'm learning English from a book, and in the second statement it drops the article "the".
My question: Is it possible to do this as long as the article is in front of a subject? I suppose this rule is only true until the period. Isn't it?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello,
I have two statements:

1. The boy and the girl are watching the fish.
2. The boy and girl are watching the fish.

I'm learning English from a book, and in the second statement it drops the article "the".
My question: Is it possible to do this as long as the article is in front of a subject? I suppose this rule is only true until the period. Isn't it?

Yes, it's possible. You can have a list of nouns after an article and it is assumed that the article applies to all the nouns.

The boy, girl, dog and cat are watching the fish.
The/My/Your/His/Her husband, wife, sister, brother-in-law and fish all live in the same room.

You have to check that the same article applies to each noun. Also, be aware that the longer the list of nouns, the less natural it starts to sound.