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According to the grammar book I'm reading, the sentence

The telephone rules my life.

is not about a particular telephone, but the general concept. I was wondering what happens if we omit the article 'the' here ("Telephone rules my life.") Is the new sentence grammatical? If so, how is the meaning changed?

I know that 'the' with a plural noun makes the phrase specific. For example 'I love books' refers to books in general, while 'I love the books' is about a particular set of books. However, in the sentence above 'the' is not used with a plural noun ('telephone').

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    If you use the plural ("Telephones rule my life") it would make sense and be speaking about telephones in general, but just "Telephone" can't be used alone like that.
    – Esther
    Commented May 30, 2022 at 15:07
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    I can, however, say that television rules my life.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented May 30, 2022 at 15:09
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    @apadana that works as well
    – Esther
    Commented May 30, 2022 at 15:13
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    Interesting. Uncountable nouns seem to work without an article, whereas countable nouns (like "telephone") need an article or to be pluralized to get the point across. But as @MichaelHarvey points out, certain countable nouns like "television" work without the article... how do we explain that? It might have something to do with the fact that "television" alone often means "the act of watching television" whereas the same isn't true for "telephone."
    – cruthers
    Commented May 30, 2022 at 20:02
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    @cruthers - These days I sometimes might use 'television' in the same way that I have been using 'cinema' for decades. It doesn't rule my life, though. That's done by Linux.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented May 30, 2022 at 20:05

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Uses of the definite article

The telephone rules my life. According to the grammar book I'm reading, the sentence is not about a particular telephone, but the general concept. I was wondering what happens if we omit the article 'the' here ("Telephone rules my life.") Is the new sentence grammatical? If so, how is the meaning changed?

'The telephone' in the above sentence represents the whole class..
This sentence can also be written using a plural noun without any article.
Telephones rule my life.

Explanation for the above:-
Ref. English Grammar website https://www.englishgrammar.org/definite-article/

Uses of the definite article :-.
Before a singular noun meant to represent the whole class

When a singular noun is meant to represent a whole class to which it belongs, it is used with the definite article 'the'.
1.The cow is a useful animal. (Here the singular noun cow represents a whole class.).
2.The rose is the sweetest of all flowers.
3. The spider has eight legs.

Note that these sentences can also be written using a plural noun without any article.
1.Cows are useful animals.
2. Roses are the sweetest of all flowers.
3.Spiders have eight legs.

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