> Okay so according to that rule, we should say "I've been to the Germany" because there's one specific Germany we're talking about. Correct?
In this sentence, the object (Germany) does not need an article as the sentence is in active voice[0]. Where an article would be needed is if passive voice[0] were used instead, such as:
I have been to the country named Germany. (definite article use)
I have been to a European country named Germany. (indefinite article use)
> Also, I can say "I like listening to a music when walking" because there's no one specific music I enjoy ....
This is another example of active voice[0], so "to a music" would be "to music" instead. Converting this sentence to a similar one in passive voice[0] could look like:
When I go for a walk the music I like to listen to is ...
Note how the subject of the sentence is "walk" and "the music" is additional information related to the walk.
> Moreover, we say "The Lake Michigan" just like we say "The Gulf of Mexico" because in both cases we talk about specific bodies of water. Right?
This one is a bit trickier in that "The Lake Michigan" would be an edge case in most English sentences. I'm sure someone could construct one where it would be correct, but that is what it would take - effort to manufacture an example.
Now "The Gulf of Mexico" is very common due to there being many gulfs and "of" being a preposition. In this context, think of a preposition being similar to a subtype relationship in OOP. For example:
A gulf is smaller than an ocean.
The Gulf of Mexico is smaller than an ocean.
In all of the above, remember that English is very inconsistent and has more exception cases than a start-up proof-of-concept. :-)
EDIT:
> Just like I enjoy "listening to a podcast".
This is a great example of "to" also being a preposition and "podcast" being a noun without specificity. Which is why your example is proper English and:
listening to podcast
Would be off-putting to a native English speaker. Continuing with the "kind of like subtypes in OOP" metaphor, since "podcast" is not a unique entity (noun) the indefinite article "a" is needed.
There are exceptions to this rule involving plurality, adverbs, and context of the sentence fragment as well.
> I hope you see it's getting complicated, and it's clear why non-native speaker would have issues here.
As a native English speaker, I recognized intrinsic complexity in the language early on during my learning journey. Perhaps this is why I do not judge non-native speakers harshly, preferring instead to appreciate their effort.
> Also, your explanation regarding Germany is wrong, because it falls apart when you apply it to "the Netherlands" or "the United States".
Both are plurals nouns, thus commonly requiring use of the definite article "the". Another example is the band "the Cars".
Again, an English proper noun which is comprised of four countries[0]. Just because a proper noun does not end with an 's' or 'es' does not mean it is singular. Some proper nouns end with an 's' or 'es' and are not plural. This is why one would not say "the Wales" even though it ends with 'es' as Wales is a proper noun identifying a single entity (country in this case).
Another example of this type of linguistic contradiction is "aircraft", whose plural is also "aircraft"[1]. So the following examples are grammatically correct:
An aircraft costs money to operate.
The aircraft did not pass inspection.
Multiple aircraft are more than one aircraft.
EDIT:
English is a context-dependent language, fraught with contradictions and special cases, let alone vagaries introduced with various dialects.
Remember that when you wrote:
... I can't tell when to use "a" and "the"
even if my life depended on it.
I sought to provide assistance in resolving this dilemma and nothing more. My hope is this thread has helped.
And before "the Netherlands" is brought up in comparison to "Wales", the etymology of the proper noun "Netherlands" should provide clarification:
The Netherlands formerly included Flanders and thus were
equivalent geographically and etymologically to the Low
Countries.[2]
In this sentence, the object (Germany) does not need an article as the sentence is in active voice[0]. Where an article would be needed is if passive voice[0] were used instead, such as:
> Also, I can say "I like listening to a music when walking" because there's no one specific music I enjoy ....This is another example of active voice[0], so "to a music" would be "to music" instead. Converting this sentence to a similar one in passive voice[0] could look like:
Note how the subject of the sentence is "walk" and "the music" is additional information related to the walk.> Moreover, we say "The Lake Michigan" just like we say "The Gulf of Mexico" because in both cases we talk about specific bodies of water. Right?
This one is a bit trickier in that "The Lake Michigan" would be an edge case in most English sentences. I'm sure someone could construct one where it would be correct, but that is what it would take - effort to manufacture an example.
Now "The Gulf of Mexico" is very common due to there being many gulfs and "of" being a preposition. In this context, think of a preposition being similar to a subtype relationship in OOP. For example:
In all of the above, remember that English is very inconsistent and has more exception cases than a start-up proof-of-concept. :-)EDIT:
> Just like I enjoy "listening to a podcast".
This is a great example of "to" also being a preposition and "podcast" being a noun without specificity. Which is why your example is proper English and:
Would be off-putting to a native English speaker. Continuing with the "kind of like subtypes in OOP" metaphor, since "podcast" is not a unique entity (noun) the indefinite article "a" is needed.There are exceptions to this rule involving plurality, adverbs, and context of the sentence fragment as well.
0 - https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/passive-voic...