Dear Pretty3,
Please accept the excellent advice regarding published work, given to you by Libertybelle.
Anyone, qualified or unqualified, can write on the Internet!
Something that is in printed form is not necessarily accurate, because it often reflects the opinion of the writer! To see evidence of this, read two newspapers articles which give opposite sides of a political, or economic, or environmental, or religious, or linguistic argument.
The quality of what is written depends on the writer �s knowledge, experience, subject-qualification, research undertaken, statistics used, reference to other works, substantiating proof, and ability to explain, plus other attributes. We on ESLP are very fortunate, because many of our colleagues possess these qualities.
In my opinion, I believe that the writer (in the passage quoted) is viewing and describing the Earth in a different manner in sentences 1 to 2, compared to sentences 3 to 5.
In sentences 1 to 2, he/she sees Earth as one of the distant planets in space, (similar to Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, etc.) It has an initial capital letter, so he/she regards it as a �Proper Noun �, comparing it with another �Proper Noun �, Mars.
In "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language", 2010, page 267, Professors Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik concur with the �zero article � in this situation. (In other words, with no �the �.)
"The space ship returned to earth this morning".
Compare sentences 1 and 2, which use �Proper Nouns �, with:
"Sam is about twice as big as Tom"
"Sam has a blanket around him".
However, in sentences 3 to 5, the writer sees the Earth, not as a Proper Noun, but as a familiar object, close at hand, of which there is only one. In these circumstances, Quirk et al refer to �the earth �; �the sun �; �the moon �, etc.
Nevertheless, they make it clear that, in idioms and in general usage, "earth is often used with the zero article".
From my point of view, in the passage quoted, I would have written �the earth � on every occasion, because �the planet earth � is one specific planet, among a group of planets. The writing would thus have been regular throughout. But this is just my personal preference.
I think that the other Members have made valid points.
I hope that I have helped you.
Les
--I like those kinds of documentaries
). So, "Earth" is a familiar name for an object.
