death penalty v.s. the death penalty

[lost_soul]

Hi,

Could you tell me which one is right, please?

1.1 The judge condemned the perpetrator to the death penalty
1.2 The judge condemned the perpetrator to _ death penalty
1.3 The judge condemned the perpetrator to _ death

2.1 Abolish the death penalty
2.2 Abolish _ death penalty

(my choice is 1.3 and 2.2, but I'm totally not sure )
Thanks !
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Alex

A native speaker of Russian

[Alan]

Hi Alex,

I would say: 'condemn to death' and 'abolish the death penalty' You really need the definite article for 'death penalty' to indicate its uniqueness. For example we have to pay a charge (a sum of money) to drive in the centre of London during certain hours and this is called 'the congestion charge'. There are all sorts of penalties and charges and if you qualify them with another word (congestion/death), you would use the definite article.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Only Three Letters