User:DCDuring/NGSL/Words/the
The
[edit]Article definitions
- Before nouns
- Definite grammatical article that implies necessarily that an entity it hints at is presupposed; something already mentioned, or completely specified later in that same sentence, or assumed already completely specified. [from 10th c.]
- I’m reading the book. (Compare I’m reading a book.)
- The street in front of your house. (Compare A street in Paris.)
- The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.
- 2016, VOA Learning English[1], archived from the original on 30 September 2017:
- I sleep in the bedroom!
- Used before a noun modified by a restrictive relative clause, indicating that the noun refers to a single referent defined by the relative clause.
- The street that runs through my hometown.
- Used before a noun designating something considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time. [from 10th c.]
- No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe.
- God save the Queen!
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 1:8, column 2:
- I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
- Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar. [from 12th c.]
- No one in the whole country had seen it before.
- I don't think I'll get to it until the morning.
- Used before a body part (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun. [from 12th c.]
- A stone hit him on the head. (= “A stone hit him on his head.”)
- When stressed, indicates that it describes something which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention. [from 18th c.]
- That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.
- 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- "Good Heavens, man! Why, he is the authority. If you want pure laboratory experiments those are the books."
- 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club[2]:
- “New Kid On The Block” doubles as a terrific showcase for the Sea Captain who, in the grand tradition of Simpsons supporting characters, quickly goes from being a stereotype to an archetype, from being a crusty sea-captain character to the crusty sea-captain character.
- Before adjectives
- Used before a superlative or an ordinal number modifying a noun, to indicate that the noun refers to a single item.
- That was the best apple pie ever.
- Added to a superlative or an ordinal number to make it into a substantive. [from 9th c.]
- That apple pie was the best.
- Introducing a singular term to be taken generically: preceding a name of something standing for a whole class. [from 9th c.]
- 1994, Nelson Mandela, “Part Eleven: Freedom”, in Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 536:
- Stern and God-fearing, the Afrikaner takes his religion seriously.
- Used before an adjective, indicating all things (especially persons) described by that adjective. [from 9th c.]
- Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.