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There are rules for zero/definite/indefinite article. And I don't get why we use 'the' with word 'mountains' in the next sentence:

I like to spend holidays in the mountains.

As for me the correct rule for this case is speaking about things in general, which states that we should use no article (zero article), like in 'I afraid of spiders.'

So why we use 'the' + 'mountains' ?

remort
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  • Does this answer your question? Definite and indefinite articles when referring to generic abstract objects ''You can take your kids to the zoo."

    ... [is idiomatic], not [necessarily] because 'zoo' has already been mentioned [previously] ... : it is equally acceptable to use the definite article in expressions like

    "We're going to the seaside." /

    "We went to the opera three times last year." /

    "We often go to the cinema''.

     – Edwin Ashworth Feb 13 '21 at 16:49
  • We can see that usage of articles is not strictly due to logic by observing that some other languages (with definite and indefinite articles) do this in another way. There is even some disagreement between US and UK on some of these ... I went to school, I went to the school. They sent me to hospital, They sent me to the hospital. – GEdgar Feb 13 '21 at 16:59
  • Neither of them actually, but this reveals something... https://englishwithkim.com/definite-article-places-spaces/ I think, by far, that in British English most of idiomatic places are supplied with 'the', except some of them like hospital, jail, university, school, church and may be some more of them. So the opera, the cinema (but, these ones are besides incountable), the beach, the mountains. 'The with places' rule is nothing about 'Zero article with things in general, or conceptual places like "home"'. And yes, articles subject is complex and full of special cases. – remort Feb 13 '21 at 18:36
  • Mountains are a feature of local weather, like clouds and snow. In Seattle, which lies on a sound between the Olympic range to the west and the Cascade range to the east, one says The mountains are out or The Olympics/Cascades are out when they're visible, depending. Seattle is also close to Mt. Rainier, which towers over everything when it's visible, in which case the local phrase is The Mountain is out -- singular, and you can almost hear the capital letter. – John Lawler Feb 13 '21 at 18:37
  • And the difference between 'go to a restaurant' and 'go to the beach' is, according to the lessons I study now, is because despite 'beach' is countable and sounds abstract, we always know which particular beach we are talking about. We have this particular beach in mind. Which is not true for a random abstract restaurant (and mountains). I may be wrong, yes it's complex. – remort Feb 13 '21 at 18:42
  • Well, that’s not really the case. “We always know” is an effort to make this usage fit, which it really doesn’t. Consider “Whenever I visit a foreign city, I like to go to the theater.” – Xanne Feb 14 '21 at 06:00

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