Hello, I have the following question. I've read different articles and have noticed one thing. The phrase "demand for something" is used sometimes with the definite articles but sometimes without it. For example, there is an article about the oil market (the title is like this "oil prices fell by...."). The article is began with "demand for oil" without the definite article. But have read articles where the phrase is used with the definite article. I think when an article is about different commodities, then we use the definite article (for example, the demand for for oil and the demand for steel). Have I caught this right?
Answers (1)
"The" is probably the hardest word to explain to a student of the language. About half of English speakers will say "in hospital" and "in THE school", and the other half will say "in THE hospital" and "in school". We know what we mean, but we can't easily explain it to someone trying to learn the language.
"The demand for oil" -- Oil is a collective noun, referring to all oil of all kinds, or all of a certain kind, especially petroleum.
"The demand for water" -- As with oil, this refers to water as a concept.
"The demand for the water" -- Refers to a specified source of water, without regard to other bodies or sources of water.