2015-08-21
318
The can be used in contexts which are limited enough for the listener or reader to identify who or what is referred to. Reference can be made to:
- people: Who's at the door?- It's the postman
- places [> Apps 21-23]:
Where's Jenny? - She's gone to the butcher's.
- She's at the supermarket/in the garden. Most references of this kind refer to a single identifiable place. However, in big towns and cities, it is a matter of linguistic convention to say He's gone to the cinema/the doctor's, etc. without referring to any specific one. This convention extends to locations Wke the country, the mountains, the seaside. Locations which are 'one of a kind' always require the: e.g. the earth, the sea, the sky, the sun, the moon, the solar system, the galaxy, the universe [compare > 3.22, 3.31 ].
- things: Pass me the salt, please.
- parts of a whole. When we know what is being referred to ('the whole') we can use the to name its parts. Assuming the listener or reader knows that we are talking about: e.g.
- a human being, we can refer to the body, the brain, the head, the heart, the lungs, the mind, the stomach, the veins.
- a room, we can refer t o the ceiling, the door, the floor.
- an object, we can refer to the back/the front, the centre, the inside/the outside, the top/the bottom.
- a town, we can refer to the shops, the street.
- an appliance, we can refer to the on/off switch
3 Articles
3.21 The use of 'the' in time expressions [> App 48]
3.21.1 The use of 'the' in time sequences e.g. the beginning, the middle, the end; the first/last; the next; the following day, the present, the past, the future In the past, people had fewer expectations
3.21.2 The use of 'the' with parts of the day [compare > 8.13] e.g. in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, etc.:
We spent the day at home In the evening, we went out.
Note that though many time references require the, many do not: e.g. next week, on Tuesday, last year
3.21.3 The use of 'the' with the seasons [> App 24]
(The) spring/summer/autumn/winter. The is optional:
We get a good crop of apples in (the) autumn
3.21.4 The use of 'the' in dates [> App 47. 4]
Ordinal numbers usually require the when they are spoken, but not
when they are written.
Compare:
/'// see you on May 24th (spoken as May the 24th) (e.g. on a letter): 24(th) May (spoken as the 24th of May)
The use of 'the' in fixed time expressions
all the while, at the moment, for the time being, in the end, etc.: I'm afraid Mr Jay can't speak to you at the moment.
