Need clarifications on the use of article 'the'?

Question

1. The conscience of mind or the conscience of the mind
2. The flight of bird or the flight of the bird
3. the height of mountain or the height of the mountain.

Sounds confusing to me.

Answer 1

1. either could be correct depending on how it is used
2. The flight of the bird. - You could remove the second the if you used the plural form - birds.
3. The height of the mountain - The same goes for this one. You could remove the second the if you used the plural form mountains.

Normally you want to eliminate filler words such as "the" and "of" when you are writing a paper. Filler words are any words that aren't really needed to get the same point across. So the point is, if you can get the same message across with fewer words then start crossing words out and rearranging words so you get the point across in a simpler fashion.

1. The mind's conscience
2. "the bird flight" or "the bird's flight"
3. the mountain height

Filler words make a sentence more complicated and harder to understand. By eliminating them you make your meaning more clear and direct. Normally I'll write a paper so it's a little longer than it has to be then I'll go back and eliminate as many of the filler words and filler sentences as I can. It makes the paper a lot easier to read and it will also help get rid of a lot of grammar problems.

Also try replacing non-action verbs such as "am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been" with action verbs.

Example:

Non-action verb: He was on the bench till dawn.

Action verb: He sat on the bench till dawn.
or
Action verb: He waited on the bench till dawn.

The action verbs are more descriptive and make the reading more exciting, especially in story-telling.

Answer 2

Okay. Always keep in mind that 'the' is the definite article. Lightly meaning, INDIVIDUAL concepts or things. Where a noun lacks the definite article (as it can versus other languages in which nouns are never separated from an article of some kind) it must be taken as a part of a whole statement gaining context from said statement. Except 1. where the use of 'the' is arbitrary and carries the same meaning, in 2. and 3. the difference is talking about a group or a single bird or mountain. To clarify, 2. should read: "The flight of BIRDS vs. The flight of THE bird. The first 'the' usage of 2. refers to a group, thus 'bird' should have an S, specifying a group. Where as the second part of 2. refers to a specific, definite bird. This is the same with 3. The height of MOUNTAINS vs. The height of THE mountain. General vs. The specific. And remember 1. without changing anything, carries the same meaning. 2. and 3. do have different meanings in the 'the' placement. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

1.Either is correct, but the first implies minds in general and the second implies that you are speaking of one mind in particular.

2. Only the second is correct.

3. Only the second is correct.

It would rarely be wrong to use the appropriate article (a, an, or the) before a noun. If in doubt, use it.