Collins Cobuild English Grammar (26 page)

For more information about this type of extra information that is added to a noun, see paragraphs
2.272
to
2.302
.

the
with uncountable nouns

1.179
  You do not normally use
the
with
uncountable nouns
because they refer to something in a general way. However,
the
is necessary if the uncountable noun is followed by extra information such as a clause or a phrase that relates it to a particular person, thing, or group.

For example, you cannot say
I am interested in education of young children
. You have to say
I am interested in the education of young children
.

Babies need
the comfort of their mother’s arms
.
Even
the honesty of Inspector Butler
was in doubt.
I’ve no idea about
the geography of Scotland
.

For more information about uncountable nouns, see paragraphs
1.23
to
1.33
.

superlatives

1.180
  
The
is also used with
superlative adjectives
.

I’m not
the best cook in the world
.
They went to
the most expensive restaurant in town
.

See paragraphs
2.112
to
2.122
for more information about superlative adjectives.

emphasizing
the

1.181
  
The
is often used in front of a noun to indicate that someone or something is the best of its kind.

New Zealand is now
the place to visit
.

You can also use
the
in front of a person’s name to show that you are referring to the most famous person with that name.

You actually met
the George Harrison
?

When you use
the
in either of these ways, you emphasize it and pronounce it /ðI
/.

the
with indefinite determiners

1.182
  
The
can be used in front of some
indefinite determiners
, usually to give an indication of amount or quantity.

These indefinite determiners are:

few

little

many

other

…pleasures known only to
the few
.
…a coup under the leadership of
the select few
.
He was one of
the few who knew where to find me
.
We have done
the little that is in our power
.

You use
the
with
other
to refer to the second of two things, when you have just mentioned one of them.

The men sat at one end of the table and the women at
the other
.

For more information about indefinite determiners, see paragraphs
1.223
to
1.250
.

the
with numbers

1.183
  
The
is used with
one
and
ones
.

I’m going to have
the green one
.
The shop was different from
the ones I remembered
.
…a pair of those old glasses,
the ones with those funny
square lenses.

The
is also used with other
numbers
.

It is a mistake to confuse
the two
.
Why is she so different from
the other two
?

See paragraphs
2.208
to
2.239
for more information about numbers.

Definite determiners: using
this
,
that
,
these
, and
those

1.184
  You use the
definite determiners
this
,
that
,
these
, and
those
to talk about people or things in a definite way.

You use
this
and
these
to talk about people and things that are close to you in place or time. When you talk about people or things that are more distant in place or time, you use
that
and
those
.

You put
this
and
that
in front of singular nouns, uncountable nouns, and the singular pronoun
one
. You put
these
and
those
in front of plural nouns and the plural pronoun
ones
.

This
,
that
,
these
, and
those
are often called
demonstratives
or
demonstrative adjectives
.

this
and
these

1.185
  
This
and
these
are used to talk about people or things that are very obvious in the situation that you are in. For example, if you are inside a house, you can refer to it as
this house
. If you are holding some keys in your hand, you can refer to them as
these keys
. If you are at a party, you can refer to it as
this party
.

I have lived in
this house
my entire life.
I am going to walk up
these steps
towards you.
I’ll come as soon as
these men
have finished their work.
I like
this university
.
Good evening. In
this programme
we are going to look at the way in which British music has developed in recent years.

When it is clear who or what you are referring to, you can use
this
and
these
as
pronouns
. This use is explained in paragraphs
1.124
to
1.127
.

1.186
  
This
and
these
are also used in many expressions that refer to current periods of time, for example
this month
,
this week
, and
these days
. This use is explained in
Chapter 4
.

that
and
those

1.187
  You use
that
and
those
when you are talking about things or people that you can see but that are not close to you.

How much is it for
that big box
?
Can I have one of
those brochures
?
Can you move
those books
off there?

1.188
  When it is clear who or what you are talking about, you can use
that
and
those
as
pronouns
. This use is explained in paragraphs
1.124
to
1.127
.

Could you just hold
that
?
Please don’t take
those
.

USAGE NOTE

1.189
  You can show that you are referring to the same person or thing you have just mentioned by using
this
,
that
,
these
, or
those
in front of a noun. For example, if you have just mentioned a girl, you can refer to her as
this girl
or
that girl
the second time you mention her. Normally, you use a
pronoun
to refer to someone or something you have just mentioned, but sometimes you cannot do this because it might not be clear who or what the pronoun refers to.

Students and staff suggest books for the library, and normally we’re quite happy to get
those books
.
Their house is in a valley. The people in
that valley
speak about the people in the next valley as foreigners.
They had a lot of diamonds, and they asked her if she could possibly get
these diamonds
to Britain.

The use of
this
,
that
,
those
, etc. to refer again to something that has already been mentioned is fully explained in paragraphs
10.7
to
10.10
.

1.190
  In informal English, you can also use
that
and
those
in front of a noun to talk about people or things that are already known to the person you are speaking or writing to.

That idiot Antonio
has gone and locked our cabin door.
Have they found
those missing children
yet?
Do you remember
that funny little apartment
?

1.191
  You can use
that
in front of a noun when you are talking about something that has just happened.

I knew
that meeting
would be difficult.

That
is used as a
pronoun
to talk about something that has just happened. This use is explained in paragraphs
1.124
to
1.127
.

using
those
instead of
the

1.192
  In more formal English,
those
can be used instead of
the
in front of a plural noun when the plural noun is followed by a
relative clause
. In this use, the relative clause specifies exactly which group of people or things are being referred to.