Dictionaries TOEIC TOEFL GMAT SAT GRE MCAT PCAT ASVAB Interviews

Tests Grammar Articles Stories Shop Services Lesson Plans Community

Home Top 100 Start your FREE email English course now! Audio Lessons

Username
Password
Remember me?

Search FAQ Memberlist Profile Private messages Register Log in

The use of 'The'

Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3

1532 English Language Exercises

Printable, photocopiable, clearly structured
Designed for teachers and individual learners
For use in a classroom, at home, on your PC

ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms

Rewrite sentence: The tables and the chairs have to be moved from his room. | 'day by day' vs 'everyday'

Message

Author

Wed Jun 18, 2008 22:05 pm The use of 'The'

Molly, you came up with all of those "the [adjective] [name of person]" examples in the first place. Are you able to see a consistent theme?

Barb_D
I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 307

Wed Jun 18, 2008 23:33 pm The use of 'The'

Barb_D wrote:

Molly, you came up with all of those "the [adjective] [name of person]" examples in the first place. Are you able to see a consistent theme?

I had my own idea a few posts back:

Quote:

I think "the" helps express a certain, sometimes temporary or topical, characteristic or state, of the person being talked about.

e.g.

First we had the confident Mr Jamie, now we have the beleaguered one.

But, now I'm not sure.

These are possibilities.

1. The mysterious Mr Jones came last night. (He always mysterious. The speaker and listener know it, or at least the speaker thinks the listener knows/know of the referent.)

"A + adjective + Mr X" can be either of these contexts:

2. A mysterious Mr Jones came last night. (He was mysterious when arrived/throughout the visit. The speaker knows/knows of him, but the listener does not).

3. A mysterious Mr Jones came last night. (He was mysterious when arrived/throughout the visit. The speaker and listener know him. Maybe his being mysterious was unusual/out of character.).

Think also about:

The changed Mr Jones came last night.
A changed Mr Jones came last night.

I think the indefinite article example there would only work for example #2 above.

Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3817

English grammar exercises — improve your English knowledge and vocabulary skills

Are you a native speaker of English? Then you should read this!

Learn to use the present simple with the help of this short story

Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:10 am The use of 'The'

I think I'm in agreement with your observations.

Barb_D
I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 307

Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:08 am The use of 'The'

Barb_D wrote:

I think I'm in agreement with your observations.

Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3817

Display posts from previous:

Rewrite sentence: The tables and the chairs have to be moved from his room. | 'day by day' vs 'everyday'

	ESL Forum \| English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms	All times are GMT + 2 Hours Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3
Page 3 of 3

Latest topics on English Forums
How do I use "wet your whistle"? • Plural of it? • Pronunciation of 'de' • preposition 'to' vs 'for' • Usage of "changing room" • musical instruments and the use of 'the' • "if... or not..."? • I can't get ahold of him. • It's unfortunate weather. • To ask a favour. • Interested candidate? • "venfuture" - venture the future • Usage of "fight" and "fight with" • "rain" vs "rainfall" • What's this kind of rain? • Expression "She's born to be a star"? • What is e-mook/mook? • The use of 'The', page 2 • The use of 'The' • Past tense vs Present tense (called yesterday our friends in Boston) • The use of 'The'

Discover English-test.net
Overcome with emotion vs. overtaken by a car • Finish vs. End • Meaning of "On penalties" • Some more questions from 'The Jungle Book' • Cut vs. Switch vs. Turn off • TOEIC vocabulary test: Vocabulary Building: English Nouns • Free TOEIC test: Free word games online: Noun Quiz • Define pedicure, offense, pass, surveillance, article • Learning how to speak Mandarin Chinese: Pimsleur Mandarin Chinese, Comprehensive Course I • Simple past, past progressive, present perfect: Save Our Animals (1) • English grammar quiz: Confusing Words test (7)

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Subscribe to FREE email English course written by Alan Townend

First name

E-mail