Here is my sentence: "This picture was taken in spring / in the spring" commenting on a photograph in a photo documentary. Is there a difference? is the determiner THE necessary and why or why not? Thanks for your help.
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3 Answers
Both are correct and honestly I do not think there is a difference in meaning whether we use the definite article in front of the season in this case.
I love the garden in (the) spring.
They go skiing in (the) winter.
But we have to use the article when the season is specified by the year like this:
The picture was taken in the spring of 2014.
but
The picture was taken in (the) spring 2014.
With spring, because of the dual meaning of the word, there can be an advantage not to use the article when talking about the season when the context is insufficient and we want to avoid ambiguity :
I found it in spring.
→ I'm definitely talking about the season.
I found it in the spring.
→ Am I talking about the season or about the spring of the river?
Both uses are considered correct in my experience.
However, "In Spring" To me personally, sounds odd. I want it to be "This picture was taken in Springtime" OR "This picture was taken in the Spring.(time.)"
"the" being a definite article, specifies the spring you are talking about. If it's "in the spring" it's an specific spring you are talking about. If it's just "in spring" it sounds like you are referring only to the season, which could be any spring in any year.
