Is a definite article needed before "sleep"?


Do I need a definite article before "sleep" in the following sentence?



How do they call in English that yellowish substance that is gathered in the corner of a human eye during the sleep?




Answer



I actually can't think of any example where you'd use the definite article for the meaning of sleep in your sample sentence.


However, it's interesting to note that the word used for said yellowish substance is also sleep. And for this meaning of sleep, the definite article is appropriate. E.g. I wiped the sleep from my eyes.


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