The issue of the articles - "the "

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by sanukeeeeeeeeeee

Could you please explain what do you mean by "we do when we just use the word alone".

Hmm. I'd like to know, too.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by sanukeeeeeeeeeee

What is sth?

I believe it's being used as a kind of shorthand for "something".

Thank you

[Tdol]

You can also use 'sthg'.

[silversea]

Thanks a lot and I am wondering if you could explain why the is used here even when it is used for the first time:
It hit me in the eye.
Regards,

Originally Posted by silversea

Thanks a lot and I am wondering if you could explain why the is used here even when it is used for the first time:
It hit me in the eye.
Regards,

Use "the" when:
--the listener already knows which object is being discussed, or
--the listener will immediately figure out which object is being discussed

In this case, the listener can immediately figure out that my eye is being discussed, because I have said that it hit me in the eye.

You could argue that since I have *two* eyes the listener can't figure out which specific eye is being discussed. However by saying "the eye" I'm implying that it doesn't matter which of my two eyes it is--if it mattered I could say "the left eye" or "the right eye."

There are many situations in which I would say "the" even when mentioning something for the first time. If I say to my husband, "I saw something in the newspaper today--" I'm assuming that he will immediately figure out that the newspaper is the one that is delivered to our house every day. If I had said "a newspaper" it would suggest that I had seen some other newspaper when I was out and about.

If I say "She went to the library" I expect the listener to immediately know which library I'm talking about--perhaps the school library--even if we haven't talked about that library for months.

Let me know if you need more examples. I got a million of them!

[silversea]

Thanks so much, I will ask you when I have more questions

Originally Posted by RonBee

A contribution from an AE speaker.

It should be an ambulance. In short, I agree with everything TDOL said.

:wink:

"the ambulance" is more suitable

[Casiopea]

Welcome.