Study Skills Clarity in Writing Use of Articles Errors made by both native speakers and non-native speakers relate to the degree of specificity they are attempting. In other words, the problem is often conceptual not grammatical. Information is hard to come by. Little research has been carried out in this area.
Most gerunds used in a general sense, e.g. Studying is hard work.
Singing in the bath is good for you. Petrol is expensive in Britain. The' is for specific reference. The petrol we bought at Tesco was the cheapest. The most common use is the first mention of an item.