Definite Article for Plurals Before "of"

Hi!

Perhaps I can help you by one example:

He likes the music of France.

This structure is called "limited generic reference"...

"Music" basically is a non-count abstract noun (you can't count or physically touch music...), which requires the zero article.

If this non-count abstract noun happens to be restricted (it just says he likes the music of France, perhaps he doesn't like the music of Switzerland...), then the definite article is required.

I think it's the same with "the different kinds of galaxies".

Hope I could help you at least a bit!

I think now I got it...got me a bit puzzled at first...

When countable nouns are postmodified - especially by an of-phrase, the definite article normally precedes it...like in "How do we study the lives of galaxies?"

But it is as well possible to omit the except with life which is limited generic use as I wrote before.

But e.g. "What do observations of galaxies tell us?" or "What do the observations of galaxies tell us?" would be exactly the same thing (except perhaps that the definite article is a bit more common and has an even more restricted aspect).

All in all, the partitive effect is the same...

Hi,

I believe that the decision of whether to put a determiner in front of such sentences as below is largely depedent upon whether or not the whole context that the phrases in question/dispute is part of  are showing the restrictiveness of the phrase or there exist prior precedents of such phrases.

What do observations of galaxies tell us about ...

Thus the explorations of space end on a note of uncertainty. 

Having said that, the first sentence probably has no prior precedent and the second sentence  is mentioning a specific exploration of space and/or somewhere in the past in the article there was a prior precedent of it.

In corollary, I believe to gain the fluency on such situations, one should be exposed to various sentential structures and right use of the phrases under dispute, and develop an eye to see the whole context.         

I think I should have written like this:

In corollary, I believe to gain the fluency in such situations, one should try to gain familiarity with various sentential structures and right use of phrases like the ones in dispute, and develop an eye to see the whole context, rather than relying on limited linguistic and semantic interpretation (I am not saying you are the one who relied on such a limited interpretation) .

And make sure to proof-read what you wrote.