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by abcd_f 799 days ago
The use of articles in English is an absolute horror.

Unlike, say, in French where articles are 100% required, in English they are usually required, but not always. It's this ambiguity that is infuriating, especially because not a single native speaker can quantify it. "It just sounds better without" tends to be the best they can do.

One thing that helps is that having more articles than needed seems to be less annoying to native speakers than having too few. So when in doubt just sprinkle the shit out of them and pray for the best.