This grammar mini episode teaches you an interesting way we use the article “the.”
Episode 163 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a grammar mini episode that teaches you an interesting way we use the article “the.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
The topic for this mini episode is a very important grammar topic. Even though it is very important, I realized that I have not talked about it since episode 17, way back in October of 2017. I think I should have been talking about this topic a lot more because it’s very important, and it’s very confusing for most people who are learning English.
The topic is articles. These are the words a, an, and the. Now, I don’t want to talk right now about the main difference between a and an on one side and the on the other. Today I want to talk about an interesting use of the word the. But I will give you a very short review. Here is the basic way that we use the (“thee”)—or the (“thuh”). Sometimes we pronounce it “thee,” and sometimes we pronounce it “thuh.” That’s the same word. It’s the same thing, and it’s used in the same ways.
The main use of the is to refer to things that we have already identified, or to refer to things we’ve already specified, or to refer to things we have already talked about. If both of us know which tree we’re talking about, I can refer to it as “the tree.” But if you don’t know which tree I’m talking about, then I can’t say “the tree.” That will sound strange. I need to say “a tree,” or maybe “that tree over there—do you see it right by the fence?” I might have to describe it that way. But if I’m going to use an article, I will use the only when we both know which thing I’m talking about. If it is a specific tree or house or dog or person, then I will use the, and if it is not a specific thing—if we have not already talked about it, if you don’t know which thing I’m talking about—then I will use a or an.
Now we get to the part that I think is a little bit strange. Because with certain kinds of nouns, we often use the even when we have not specified anything. Even when we have not identified something. Even when the speaker has not made it clear which thing he’s talking about. Let me give you some quick examples, and then I think you will understand.
All of these sentences work—even if they are the very beginning of the conversation, even if I have not identified which noun I’m talking about. I can say sentences like these:
“Yesterday I walked past the post office.” Yesterday I walked past the (or “thee”) post office.
I can say this same sentence with many different locations, and it still works when I use the. Even if I have not specified or identified which thing I’m talking about. So, I can also say:
“Yesterday I walked past the drugstore.” The drugstore.
Or “Yesterday I went to the bank.” I don’t have to say "a bank." I can say "the bank," even if you don’t know which bank I mean. There are many banks. In my city, there might be fifty banks or a hundred banks. I don’t know—I’ve never counted the banks. But in most cases, I still don’t need to say a bank when I’m talking about a bank. I can say "the bank."
Now, this also works for the gym—going to the gym. Or going to the library or going to the hospital.
In fact, it works for many places like that that you find in a city, or in a town, or in a neighborhood. Even though there might be more than one bank, or more than one hospital, or more than one drugstore, it still works for me to use the article the. And if someone uses the article the in a case like this, when they are talking about a bank or a hospital or a library, everybody understands that it means something like the speaker’s usual bank, or the library that is in the speaker’s neighborhood, or the big hospital in town, or the local post office. So, when we use the with one of these kinds of places—like a post office or a bank or a library or a hospital—the understanding is that we are talking about the speaker’s usual place. Or the main place in the neighborhood.
Now, notice this doesn’t work with other kinds of places. It doesn’t work with restaurant or building or house. It sounds very strange to say “Yesterday I was walking by the restaurant.” (Or “thee” restaurant.) “Yesterday I took a walk, and I saw the building.” Or “Yesterday I took a walk past the house.” I can really only use one of those words and the (or “thee”) if we have already established which thing we’re talking about. If you already know which building I’m talking about, or which house, or which restaurant, then it makes sense to use the. But if we haven’t already established that, then it sounds very strange to use the—the same way, it sounds strange if I say: “Yesterday I took a walk past the tree.” Because that will make you say, “Which tree? What do you mean ‘the tree’? Were we talking about a certain tree? I don’t know which tree you mean.”
So the strange thing here is that we can use the with certain kinds of locations or certain kinds of location nouns, even when we have not specified which place we’re talking about. Which bank? Which library? Which hospital? Which drugstore? It’s OK, even if you don’t know. I can still use the word the, and it will sound very natural.
So I think you should listen for this when you hear native speakers talk. When they are talking about banks and hospitals and libraries and drugstores and grocery stores, listen for their use of the word the (or “thee). I think you will hear the (or “thee”) very often when native speakers talk about that kind of place.