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I have 2 sentences:

-There are billions of stars in space.

-There are billions of stars in the space.

and:

-Beyond the stars, the astronaut saw nothing but space.

-Beyond the stars, the astronaut saw nothing but the space.

Can you explain to me which sentence is correct? And space means universe has "the" in front or not? Thank you guys.

Tiến NG
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1 Answers1

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If you mean all the universe, the correct form is "space", without an article. If you say "the space", you are referring to a specific, limited space, such as the volume in your desk drawer, or a particular 1,000 cubic light years in some specific galaxy.

Jack O'Flaherty
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  • You could also be talking about a mathematical construction, some of which are attempts at describing the universe. – Peter Sep 09 '22 at 06:02
  • Then that, being limited and mathematically described, would be "a space" or "the space", wouldn't it? – Jack O'Flaherty Sep 09 '22 at 06:07
  • Yes, though "limited" might not be a good word for a space with infinite size in infinitely many dimensions. – Peter Sep 09 '22 at 06:15
  • You just used "a space". That is limited, in the sense that it isn't just "space". Its description excludes spaces with only a kazillion dimensions that aren't very big. – Jack O'Flaherty Sep 09 '22 at 07:15