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The usage of 'The"

Posted by jeevan159 · April 5, 2011 · 3 replies

Hi all.

Which sentence should i use?

a) The Orang Utan is a hairy animal

b) Orang Utan is a hairy animal.

Can I omit the word "the" ?

Regards
Jeevan

3 Replies

susan53

No. You need "The" here. "The" is used with generic reference to describe a species of animal. Another example would be : The tiger is in danger of extinction - we're not talking about a particular tiger but the whole species.
This has already been discussed here if you want more details : http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/generic-reference-18487/

jeevan159 OP

Thank you very much.

Regards
Jeevan🙂

MJsusan

I am also confused by the usage of "the ", now I know. all of what you said is really helpful to me. thanks so much.