the article the?

Question

when you say i am running out of gas,,, why don't you put the before the gas?? it is hard to understand sometimes

Answer 1

You could say the gas, my gas, this gas, that gas, his gas, but if you don't need to specify the just say, "I'm running out of gas.". Especially if you use it as an idiom to mean that you are running out of energy.


This is the most difficult grammar question ever. There are over 50 different reasons for why we use the. You are going to get many answers from many people. I teach TOEFL so I will make this as simple as possible for you with 10 rules.

1. Please say "the same". So many of my Korean and Japanese students don't. That's a reason, all by itself.

2. Many people will tell you it is because it is a specific noun. Actually, we say the dog only when we think the other person knows the specific dog we are talking about. That's why native speakers say, the moon, the sun, the sky, etc. If you ask people to close their eyes and imagine this noun, they will think of the same thing. If you ask people to do that with "dog" everyone would think of something different. This does cause problems for us. For example, we always say, "the library, the airport", and it is possible in some cities that there is more than one, thus, your taxi might take you to the wrong place.

3. The is commonly used in noun phrases with "of". They are inversions of possesion. Yu-Jin's pen becomes the pen of Yu-Jin.

4. Countries have 2 names. For whatever reason, sometimes one name is used more frequently than others. American use both frequently. The USA or America. In Canada, we almost never say The Dominion of Canada.

5. Use the before numbers like, the first, the thrid, the four hundred and fifty seventh battalion.

6. Use the with directions and sequence: the north, the south, the top, the bottom, the left, the centre, the begining, the afternoon, the side

7. Use the with groups of mountians: The Rocky Mountians

8. Use the before adjectives for groups of people: The Koreans, the rich, the old.

9. Use the in quanity experssions: some of the dogs, one of the cats, many of the problems.

10. Use the other, or the others, when you refer to the last one or ones of a group. "Where are the other questions?"

Answer 2

English usage does not always make sense, especially to non-native speakers. In this case, there is no need to use the. Someoen might say step on the gas, meaning the gas peddle, or accellerator, but when one is running out of gas, it is simply gas. In English, the is not necessary in that phrase.

Answer 3

you use the when you mean something or someone specific.
for example 'my car runs on gas ', 'the gas is leaking'
in the first sentence you don't need THE as you are speaking of fuel gas in general. in the next you need the to specify that the gas in the car is leaking.
i am running out of gas is correct.

Answer 4

becoz it doesnt sound good in the ears

Answer 5

it is not gramatical correct when you use "the"