How Difficult Is Defining The Word "THE"? Who Has A Better Definition? - Education - Nairaland
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| How Difficult Is Defining The Word "THE"? Who Has A Better Definition? by MasterKim: 11:31pm On Aug 07, 2017 |
The word “THE” is one of the most common word in the English language. It’s so ubiquitous that most of us have probably never stopped to think about how strange of a word it actually is. As discussed here, it’s easily one of the most difficult words to explain to a non-native English speaker because it has such a massive range of applications, some of which are remarkably odd when looked at objectively. To quote: “Why do we say, ‘I love the ballet,’but not ‘I love the cable TV?’ Why do we say, ‘I have the flu,’ but not‘ I have the headache?’ Why do we say, ‘winter is the coldest season, ’and not ‘ winter is coldest season?’ ”Think about it—we use the word “the” in dozens of different situations and in reference to many different concepts, ideas, and objects interchangeably. We can use the word to refer to everything from a specific item to an abstract metaphorical concept, and native speakers can instinctively tell when it’s being used incorrectly without thinking about it. As noted in the linked article above, the dictionary itself lists almost two dozen different ways the word can be used in a sentence correctly, which makes an exact definition of the word that much more difficult to pin down. Don’t believe us? Try defining it yourself in the comments and let us know how it goes. |
| Re: How Difficult Is Defining The Word "THE"? Who Has A Better Definition? by Shelloween(m): 11:42pm On Aug 07, 2017 |
"THE" is a definite article used in sentences to specify a particular thing. The opposite of "THE" is "A" ( A is an Indefinite article which doesn't specify a particular thing). We say Winter is THE coldest season because..... We have other cold seasons, but the coldest is winter ( in this sentence, "THE" actaully specifies a particular season; winter, as being the coldest among other seasons) same applies to other things, with exceptions though. 1 Like |
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