1

"The" association between socioeconomic conditions and health differed between countries of different economic development.

I know that "The" implies a particular association that is between "socioeconomic conditions" and "health".

But, What if I remove "the" before association? Like below: Association between socioeconomic conditions and health differed between countries of different economic development.
There is still a sense of a 'particular association' that is between socioeconomic conditions and health. So, what is the need of using "the"?

Improve this question
2
  • I’d point out that in the sentence you cite, association and differed beteeen are working at cross purposes. I think what its author meant is that the association varied across levels of economic development. Or varied with economic development.
    – Paul Tanenbaum
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 12:14
  • Failure to attribute the author of an extract cited is plagiarism. Please provide the source of the piece or clarify that you are the original author. Thanks.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 7:35

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

In articles that summarize data, the definite article is often used with a specific datum or relationship the author has examined. Leaving the article out simply removes that nuance, but nothing much is lost as that notion is implicit in context.

As we can see from the graph below, (the) correlation between GDP and defense spending varies by country.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .