Should it be “German society” or “the German society”?












1














This is a line I came across in someone's bio. Apparently the author is not a native speaker of English.




Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to the German society.




I am under the impression that an article should not be used when referring to a country's society collectively. Google search results show that most journalistic writings do not use the definite article before a nation's collective public, i.e. "German society", "Chinese society", "Japanese society". There are some search results on Google Books and Google Scholar that have the definite article before a nation's society, but I am not sure they have been authored by native speakers of English.



Should there be the definite article in this case?






articles definite-article







share|improve this question



























    1














    This is a line I came across in someone's bio. Apparently the author is not a native speaker of English.




    Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to the German society.




    I am under the impression that an article should not be used when referring to a country's society collectively. Google search results show that most journalistic writings do not use the definite article before a nation's collective public, i.e. "German society", "Chinese society", "Japanese society". There are some search results on Google Books and Google Scholar that have the definite article before a nation's society, but I am not sure they have been authored by native speakers of English.



    Should there be the definite article in this case?






    articles definite-article







    share|improve this question

























      1












      1








      1







      This is a line I came across in someone's bio. Apparently the author is not a native speaker of English.




      Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to the German society.




      I am under the impression that an article should not be used when referring to a country's society collectively. Google search results show that most journalistic writings do not use the definite article before a nation's collective public, i.e. "German society", "Chinese society", "Japanese society". There are some search results on Google Books and Google Scholar that have the definite article before a nation's society, but I am not sure they have been authored by native speakers of English.



      Should there be the definite article in this case?






      articles definite-article







      share|improve this question













      This is a line I came across in someone's bio. Apparently the author is not a native speaker of English.




      Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to the German society.




      I am under the impression that an article should not be used when referring to a country's society collectively. Google search results show that most journalistic writings do not use the definite article before a nation's collective public, i.e. "German society", "Chinese society", "Japanese society". There are some search results on Google Books and Google Scholar that have the definite article before a nation's society, but I am not sure they have been authored by native speakers of English.



      Should there be the definite article in this case?






      articles definite-article




      articles definite-article






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 7 hours ago









      L. Moneta

      2,65221237




      2,65221237






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          No



          You would use The German Society only to refer to a specific organization (like a school's German language club that called itself this) or a specific period of German society ("The German society of the 1920s").



          Otherwise, it would just be "German society."






          share|improve this answer





























            0














            No
            Just as you might say




            Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include German society.




            You do not need the definite article unless it is a specific portion




            Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include the German society of the 1940's.







            share|improve this answer





















              Your Answer








              StackExchange.ready(function() {
              var channelOptions = {
              tags: "".split(" "),
              id: "481"
              };
              initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

              StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
              // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
              if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
              StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
              createEditor();
              });
              }
              else {
              createEditor();
              }
              });

              function createEditor() {
              StackExchange.prepareEditor({
              heartbeatType: 'answer',
              autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
              convertImagesToLinks: false,
              noModals: true,
              showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
              reputationToPostImages: null,
              bindNavPrevention: true,
              postfix: "",
              imageUploader: {
              brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
              contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
              allowUrls: true
              },
              noCode: true, onDemand: true,
              discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
              ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
              });


              }
              });














              draft saved

              draft discarded


















              StackExchange.ready(
              function () {
              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f191442%2fshould-it-be-german-society-or-the-german-society%23new-answer', 'question_page');
              }
              );

              Post as a guest















              Required, but never shown

























              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes








              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes









              active

              oldest

              votes






              active

              oldest

              votes









              2














              No



              You would use The German Society only to refer to a specific organization (like a school's German language club that called itself this) or a specific period of German society ("The German society of the 1920s").



              Otherwise, it would just be "German society."






              share|improve this answer


























                2














                No



                You would use The German Society only to refer to a specific organization (like a school's German language club that called itself this) or a specific period of German society ("The German society of the 1920s").



                Otherwise, it would just be "German society."






                share|improve this answer
























                  2












                  2








                  2






                  No



                  You would use The German Society only to refer to a specific organization (like a school's German language club that called itself this) or a specific period of German society ("The German society of the 1920s").



                  Otherwise, it would just be "German society."






                  share|improve this answer












                  No



                  You would use The German Society only to refer to a specific organization (like a school's German language club that called itself this) or a specific period of German society ("The German society of the 1920s").



                  Otherwise, it would just be "German society."







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 6 hours ago









                  rpeinhardt

                  3883




                  3883

























                      0














                      No
                      Just as you might say




                      Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include German society.




                      You do not need the definite article unless it is a specific portion




                      Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include the German society of the 1940's.







                      share|improve this answer


























                        0














                        No
                        Just as you might say




                        Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include German society.




                        You do not need the definite article unless it is a specific portion




                        Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include the German society of the 1940's.







                        share|improve this answer
























                          0












                          0








                          0






                          No
                          Just as you might say




                          Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include German society.




                          You do not need the definite article unless it is a specific portion




                          Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include the German society of the 1940's.







                          share|improve this answer












                          No
                          Just as you might say




                          Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include German society.




                          You do not need the definite article unless it is a specific portion




                          Since 2005 I have extended my research on education to include the German society of the 1940's.








                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered 6 hours ago









                          Peter

                          60.4k553107




                          60.4k553107






























                              draft saved

                              draft discarded




















































                              Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!


                              • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                              But avoid …



                              • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                              • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                              To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





                              Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


                              Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


                              • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                              But avoid …



                              • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                              • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                              To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                              draft saved


                              draft discarded














                              StackExchange.ready(
                              function () {
                              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f191442%2fshould-it-be-german-society-or-the-german-society%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                              }
                              );

                              Post as a guest















                              Required, but never shown





















































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown

































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown







                              -

                              Popular posts from this blog

                              Eastern Orthodox Church

                              Image
                              Not to be confused with Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Christianity, or Eastern Catholic Churches. "Eastern Orthodoxy", "Orthodox Church", "Orthodox Catholic Church", and "Orthodox Christian Church" redirect here. For other uses, see Orthodox (disambiguation). This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably . The readable prose size is 132 kilobytes. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding or removing subheadings. ( January 2018 ) Part of a series on the Eastern Orthodox Church Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia Overview Structure Theology (History of theology) Liturgy Church history Holy Mysteries View of salvation View of Mary View of icons Background Crucifixion / Resurrection / Ascension of Jesus Christianity Christian Church Apostolic succession Four Marks of the Church Orthodoxy Organization Autocephaly Patriarchate ...
                              Read more

                              Zagreb

                              Image
                              This article is about the Croatian capital city. For other uses, see Zagreb (disambiguation). City in City of Zagreb, Croatia Zagreb City Grad Zagreb City of Zagreb Clockwise, from top: St. Mark's Square, Croatian State Archives, Zagreb Tram, Art Pavilion, Cibona & HOTO towers and Croatian National Theatre. Flag Coat of arms Zagreb Location of Zagreb in Croatia Show map of Croatia Zagreb Zagreb (Europe) Show map of Europe Coordinates: 45°49′N 15°59′E  /  45.817°N 15.983°E  / 45.817; 15.983 Coordinates: 45°49′N 15°59′E  /  45.817°N 15.983°E  / 45.817; 15.983 Country   Croatia County City of Zagreb RC diocese 1094 Free royal city 1242 Unified 1850 Subdivisions 17 city districts 218 local committees (70 settlements) Government  • Type Mayor-Council  • Mayor Milan Bandić (BM 365)  • City Assembly 51 members BM 365, ZL, NS-R (14) SDP, GLAS, HNS, HSS, NH-PS (13) ...
                              Read more

                              Understanding the information contained in the Deep Space Network XML data?

                              Image
                              up vote 1 down vote favorite NASA's Deep Space Network activity can be viewed conveniently at https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html but if you would like data in a more raw XML form, it can be accessed as described in this answer Below is a small Python script that reads the XML into a list of dictionaries, and saves it to disk as a JSON. The dictionaries are organized at the higher level by dish, then by spacecraft per dish. Question: What are the most-likely meanings of all the data field contained in the Deep Space Network XML data? This is the example url from the other answer, used in the script below: https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/data/1365107113.xml def dictify(r,root=True): # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2148119/how-to-convert-an-xml-string-to-a-dictionary-in-python/30923963#30923963 if root: ret...
                              Read more