[Grammar] "The" as an Adverb

[sky3120]

Wow, I have brought a very shocking grammar issue about "the". When I heard that "the " can be used and function as an adverb, I was almost dead. What an English!!, so I looked it up in the dictionary(longman) and it says

"Used before an adjective or adverb to emphasize that something is bigger, better etc than all others, or as big, good etc as it is possible for it to be:
1. He likes you the best.

2. I had the worst headache last night.

Although it was shocking at first, I am getting the gist of it, expect that "the" can be considered as an adverb in #2. I have always thought that "the" was used as a determiner and show superlative.I am really confused now and need your help with this. So What do you think about it?

 

[dong6241]

Though I'm not an expert,
1. He likes you the best.

2. I had the worst headache last night.

in "1." the best is describing you. And since best is a adjective describing you, THE can therefore act as a adverb describing best. so to summarize, THE describes adjective best and best describes object you

in "2." same idea as "1." the sentence itself isI had headache. But with adjective worst describing the object headache, and THE describing worst, THE therefore act as adverb

please correct me if i'm wrong
thanks.

 

[TheParser]

Wow, I have brought a very shocking grammar issue about "the". When I heard that "the " can be used and function as an adverb, I was almost dead.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Me, too!

I found a good explanation. I shall credit the book, and then I think that I can give a long quotation from the book.

I think that the strict copyright laws in the United States allow "reasonable" excerpts on an academic website such as this.

The book is entitled A Grammar of Present-Day English. The esteemed authors are Professors R.W. Pence (Depauw University)

and D.W. Emery (University of Washington). It was published in 1963 by the Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. in New York and

Collier Macmillan Publishers in London. (Excuse me for giving such details, but Americans feel that authors work hard and

deserve all the credit possible.)

The faster we walk, the sooner we shall arrive [The following is the scholars' explanation]:

The meaning is this: "In which degree we walk faster in that degree we shall arrive sooner." The first the functions as a

relative adverb modifying faster and joins its clause to the main clause the sooner we shall arrive, in which the second

the functions as a simple adverbial modifier of the adverb sooner.

*****

Here is an example from another of my favorite books, Descriptive English Grammar by Homer C. House and Susan Emolyn

Harmer. It was printed in 1950 by Prentice-Hall, Inc., in Englewood, New Jersey.

The sooner he comes, the better.

Again the first "the" is a so-called "relative adverb," and the second "the" is a simple adverb.

The scholars' translation: "By how much sooner he comes, by that much better it will be."

In other words (as the scholars tell us): "It will be better in the degree in which he comes sooner."

 

[susiedq]

I'm going to suggest that when "the" is placed before certain words like "best" and "worst", it becomes an expression / modern day idiom.
.

He is the best. That show was the worst. Man, you're the bomb!

The "the" is used for emphasis and is often pronouced as "thee"


Your samples seem to be in this category.

he / likes / you
(how?) the best

2. I had the worst headache last night.

I / had/ headache
(what kind?) the worst