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The division of opinions among political parties is good for democracy in new nations.

Division of opinions among political parties is good for democracy in new nations.

I don't know if "the" must be used before "division of opinions".

I would not use "the" because this is a general statement that is not referring to any specific, identifiable situation where there is division of opinions.

However, I would use "the" because we are using a construction with "of" ("A of B" = "division of opinions") that makes "division" specific because it is the specific division of opinions ("A" is being made specific: it is the A of B). Having said this, I feel that "division of opinions" is an expression where maybe this rule for "of" does not apply, because we are not saying literally that the opinions are being divided between the parties (where maybe we would use "the") but we are using the expression "division of opinions", which carries a different meaning.

So, what is correct and idiomatic, and why? My intuition is that "the" must not be used here, but maybe I am wrong.

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    Your intuition is correct.. You might see the article used in this context but the sentence reads better without it.
    – Ronald Sole
    Commented Feb 9, 2023 at 18:50
  • I would add that "diversity" is more idiomatic than "division" here.
    – alphabet
    Commented Feb 9, 2023 at 23:14
  • I think "division of ideas" sounds perfectly natural, and "diversity of ideas" would be a slightly different concept. Also, I feel that both "Division..." and "The division..." are acceptable, as well as "A division...". Each has slightly different connotations, but the differences are so slight and contextual that I hesitate to try to force them into immutable definitions, and the overall meaning and grammar is the same regardless.
    – Aos Sidhe
    Commented Feb 9, 2023 at 23:18
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    I would be very thankful if you could explain the differences between the 3 options put forward (division, the division, a division). I don't know how to choose between them.
    – user167211
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 13:26
  • I would never use division of opinions. I would use different opinions. OR: A range of opinions. We might say: opinions on the issue were divided, a verb. A difference of opinions.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 16:33

2 Answers 2

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I would use either no article, or the indefinite article:

A division of opinion among political parties is good for democracy in new nations.

The definite article isn't appropriate in the context. For a start, you're talking about new democratic nations, presumably ones that may exist in the future as well as those still considered to be 'new'. The definite article points to a single specific thing, but you're talking about many potential divisions.

Even if you were talking about just one specific existing democracy, I think you would be better off using the indefinite article. Political parties may agree on many things but be divided on numerous other things. Saying "the division of opinion" could sound like they are permanently divided, but saying "a division of opinion" better represents the possibility that they may agree sometimes, but when 'a' difference of opinion arises it is no bad thing.

Using 'division of opinion' without an article is fine from a grammatical standpoint so long as 'division' is singular. Zero article means you're talking about something more as a concept that a specific thing - ie division of opinion in general.

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    Thanks. I would be very thankful if you could explain the differences between the 3 options put forward (division, the division, a division). I don't know how to choose between them.
    – user167211
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 13:27
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    @Astralbee your answer uses "division of opinion" with singular opinion, when my example was with plural opinions. Is it because the plural form is wrong? Which form is more idiomatic, singular opinion or plural opinions? Do your comments only apply to the singular version?
    – user167211
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 16:48
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    @christianjackson The plural form is wrong because 'division of opinion' is a noun phrase, like 'lack of attention'.
    – Astralbee
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 16:54
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    @Astralbee is the plural form for opinions wrong for all three cases of determiners [The division of / A division of / Division of] opinions? Is it the singular form ok for all three cases?
    – user167211
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 17:02
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    @Lambie do you mean that "division of opinions" is poor English but "division of opinion" is fine? Apologies for asking maybe obvious questions, but none of this is obvious to me and the answers confuse me even more when they are not specific!
    – user167211
    Commented Feb 10, 2023 at 17:04
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Semantic improvement:

Differences of opinion among political parties are good for democracy in new nations.

The English idiom is difference of opinion. division of opinion is not semantically accurate here.

division implies generally two. Generally, we might say "opinions were divided about x", and that generally implies two sides to some argument in a group of people.

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  • Thanks @Lambie. One question. Your are writing: Differences of opinion among political parties is good for democracy in new nations. Is there any reason why you are using "IS" instead of "ARE"?
    – user167211
    Commented Feb 11, 2023 at 16:15
  • @christianjackson I fixed that.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 11, 2023 at 17:25

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