please help me with the question:find a mistake in the following sentence:
The labor unions met with the management board all the night in order to avoid a strike.
I know the mistake is " all the night".
it should be all night. ButI don't know the reason. Thanks
You're right -- in the phrase "all the night," we do not use "the."
English has a lot of rules -- and exceptions to these rules -- about the use of articles. However, it's probably best just to listen and read carefully and pick up when to use articles that way.
This site may also help you.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/
The mistake in the sentence is indeed the phrase "all the night." The correct phrase should be "all night."
The reason for this is that when referring to an entire period of darkness or a whole night, we generally use "all night" as a set phrase. The word "the" is not necessary in this expression.
To further understand this, let's break down the sentence. The phrase "all night" is used to describe the duration of the action, which in this case is the labor unions meeting with the management board. By using "all night," it implies that the meeting lasted for the entire duration of the night, from start to finish.
On the other hand, if you were specifying a specific part of the night, you could use "the." For example, you could say, "They met with the management board throughout the night." In this case, "the" is used because you are referring to a specific portion of the night, rather than the entirety of it.
So, in summary, the mistake in the sentence is using "all the night" instead of the correct phrase "all night."