User:DCDuring/NGSL/Words/the

The

Article definitions

Before nouns

1. 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!

   1. 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.

   2. 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.

   3. 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.

   4. 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.”)

2. 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

1. 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.

2. Added to a superlative or an ordinal number to make it into a substantive. [from 9th c.]

   That apple pie was the best.

3. 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.

4. 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.