Why do the natives of the English language not use a definite article before "silent mode" while saying, "My cell-phone is on silent mode."?
Learn English – A definite article before “silent mode”
definite-articlezero-article
Related Solutions
The article goes with language, so the following work as noun phrases:
English
the English language
The following doesn't usually work as a noun phrase referring to the English language. It would more likely be interpreted as referring to the English people:
＊the English
Take a look at the following example sentences:
1a. I speak English.
1b. ？I speak the English language.
1c. ＊I speak the English.
2a. English is a beautiful thing.
2b. The English language is a beautiful thing.
2c. ＊The English is a beautiful thing.
Examples 1c is wrong. Example 2c is wrong in most situations. Example 1b sounds strange; we usually only say "the English language" when speaking about the language in the abstract or as a whole. Saying "English" always works, though it doesn't always sound as nice:
3a. By some estimates, there are over a million words in the English language.
3b. By some estimates, there are over a million words in English.
Both examples are acceptable, but example 3a sounds better.
Of course, there are other situations where you'd use an article with bare English, such as in the phrase the English of Shakespeare, but you can do that with any proper noun (see this answer). And if you're using English language as a modifier, it doesn't need an article because it's not functioning as a noun. In the following example, English language is inserted into the noun phrase a Q&A site as a modifier:
4. Stack Exchange is an English language Q&A site.
The article an belongs to site, not to English, language, or Q&A.
＊ means I think this utterance is unacceptable.
？ means I think this utterance is questionable, but not as bad as those marked with ＊.
When you use 'the' before a noun, you are referring to a specific instance of that noun. It is a definite article.
'A', an indefinite article refers to a abstract or general version of that noun, basically, it's up to the listener/reader/circumstances to fill in which specific instance (if any) fits that noun.
In your examples:
- The data extracted from a node, yes, correct. The specific data extracted from some node
- A data extracted from .... Incorrect. 'data' is plural, as Roger pointed out in the comments. If you had said A datum extracted from... you would be referring to any one datum extracted. Which datum would depend on context.
- The tea was delicious Correct. A specific tea was delicious
- A tea produced by Ahmad company. Is correct. In this case, you are referring to any one type of tea produced by Ahmad Company. The context would explain more information. For example, if you had: "ABC, a tea produced by Ahmad Company....", you would know which one. On the other hand, "Oh, I'm just drinking a tea produced by Ahmad Company....", would not define which tea.
So in answer to your question, both 'a/an' and 'the' can be used before uncountable nouns, but it is up to the rest of the sentence to determine if that usage is correct or not.
I did a quick search, and this website seems like a good resource for indefinite/definite articles.
Best Answer
Which "natives of the English language" do you have in mind? I ask this because you use the before the quoted noun phrase above. And when a native English writer/speaker uses the, we are making a definite reference to something. When we make a definite reference to something that is a plural noun phrase, we almost always have a specific group in mind, AND we usually expect that our hearers/readers know which group we are talking about. But here I have no idea which group of native speakers you are talking about.
If you use no article (also called the zero article) before "Native speakers of the English language", you are making an indefinite reference and do not have a specific group in mind; you just mean native speakers of the English language in general.
As far as
First, it would not matter if there were 10,000 available modes. You would still not use an article. Each mode is already unique.
This is similar to a location where there could be one million tables, and you would say:
And we would not say the Table 6852 even though we have a definite table in mind. It is basically the name of a uniquely identifiable table. And silent mode can be considered a uniquely identifiable mode. Just like Stack Exchange uses User##### to uniquely identify users. We don't need the definite article before one item/user/table/mode that can be uniquely identified from others in a certain set of items/users/tables/modes.
As for the preposition, on is definitely the one to use, because it fits with already established uses of on.
You can shorten your sentence to
Just like
And you can instruct someone to put their phone on vibrate or their TV on mute.
Using in instead of on in the above sentences sounds bad.
Note that a person can also be on hold--not in hold--when waiting for a person to talk to.
Ultimately, it's just a collocation that doesn't require either the definite or indefinite article. We have lots of those, including
I'm on top of the world.
The shot is on target.
The actors look better on screen than face to face.
That football player is on fire; he's scored goals in seventeen straight games.
We have collocations with in (stand in line) and at (be at school) also, but this answer has been long enough.