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As I know, in sentence below, the article "the" is obligated, because we are talking to the advantages of a type of vehicles, ( driver-less vehicles, not vehicles driven by air or vehicles driven by fuel):

At a talk show:

I am going to talk about the advantages of driver less vehicles.

**But I am not sure if "the" is mandatory in this sentence:

At a talk show:

I am going to talk about the types of books for children. There are about 20 types of books for children. They are....

or

I am going to talk about types of books for children.There are about 20 types of books for children. They are....

As I think, because I am talking about the types of books for children, not book for adult or books for women. So that "the" is obligated here.

Right?

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  • I'd use (2) over (3), even though both of them are grammatically correct, since (2) sounds more natural than (3)
    – Yash Laddha
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 15:13
  • 1
    I find that in some cases, with “the” or without “the” doesn’t matter. Besides some basic rules for the definite article “the” , there are some situations, we can use both with “the” or without”the”. It seems that there are no rules for such kinds of these situations. Right?
    – LE123
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 15:26
  • There are rules for certain situations, but not in the example you've given. It is true that some situations can be right with or without 'the', but even then there will be one case which just 'sounds more right' when you say it out loud
    – Yash Laddha
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 15:32
  • but even then there will be one case which just 'sounds more right' when you say it out loud – Could you tell me which case?
    – LE123
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 15:47
  • 1
    Although it's not wrong without the 'the', it is still better with a 'the'
    – Yash Laddha
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 14:20

1 Answer 1

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Sentence (1)

(1) I am going to talk about the advantages of driverless vehicles.

Does indeed require the use of "the" as the speaker is about to discuss a specific set of advantages, that is the advantages of driverless cars.. Note that "the" can be replaced here, but not omitted:

  • (1A) I am going to talk about some advantages of driver less vehicles.
  • (1B) I am going to talk about a few advantages of driverless vehicles.

Other expressions qualifying or limiting the set of advantages might be used, such as "various", "several", and the like. (By the wy "driverless" should be either a single word or hyphenated, not split into two words as "driver less".)

Sentence (2):

(2) I am going to talk about the types of books for children.

is grammatically correct, and quite natural. It would seem to fall under the same "rule" or guideline, as (1). But here the definite article "the" can be omitted, giving:

(3) I am going to talk about types of books for children.

in (2) "types" functions as a noun, the head-noun of the phrase "types of books". But in (3) I believe it functions as an adjective, modifying "books".

I cannot state a clear general rule why "the" can be omitted from (2) but not from (1). Sentence (1) just doesn't seem to work without the article. Perhaps it is because "types of books" is a much shorter phrase than "advantages of driverless vehicles"

By the way, one could further modify (3) into:

(3A) I am going to talk about book types for children.

Here "book" functions as an adjective, modifying "types" but the meaning is very little changed.

In a comment, the OP asks about the change of meaning caused by omitting "the"before "types of books" when changign from (2) to (3). "The types of books" grammatically ought to mean "all the applicable types of books", while just "types of books" without "the" could mean the same, or could mean only some types. However, many fluent speakers will not respect this distinction, and one cannot rely on it without additional context confirming the speaker's intention.

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  • Thank you so much for your help
    – LE123
    Commented Jul 14, 2022 at 3:27
  • Some of my fried told me that the sentence with definite article “the types of books” means “all types of books”. and the sentence without definite article “ types of books” means “some types of books”. Is that right?
    – LE123
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 11:55
  • @LE HANH Glad to help. "The types of books" grammatically ought to mean "all the applicable types of books", while just "types of books" without "the" could mean the same, or could mean only some types. However, many fluent speakers will not respect thsi distinction, and one cannot rely on it without additional context confirming the speaker's intention.
    – David Siegel
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 15:41
  • If I say at a talk show: (4) I will talk about the types of books for children which are now available on the market (5) I will talk about types of books for children which are now available on the market. Is that (4) refers to all types of books, and (5) refers some kinds of books. Or (4) and (5) have the same meaning, and I can use either. Right?
    – LE123
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 16:43
  • @LE HANH Sentence (4) ought to be about all types of books, but many speakers many not be careful to observe this distinction. However, for even a careful speaker (5) may be about all types or just some types. One cannot be sure unless the speaker is more explicit.
    – David Siegel
    Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 16:58

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