Talk:The

This article was nominated for deletion on 5 February 2007. The result of the discussion was redirect to Article (grammar).

Material from English articles was split out into The on October 13, 2015. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted so long as the latter page exists. Please leave this template in place to link the article histories and preserve this attribution. The former page's talk page can be accessed at Talk:English articles.

view · edit Frequently asked questions Q: Shouldn't this article be deleted per Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary? A: Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary says that "Wikipedia should not be written like a dictionary," not "Wikipedia shouldn't have articles about words." There are plenty of other articles about words, but the purpose of those articles is to talk about the word itself, not define what the word means as a dictionary would. However, this doesn't mean that Wikipedia should have articles about every word in the English language; Wikipedia does have notability guidelines, which the word "the" happens to meet. (More detail here.)

This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Linguistics Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Linguistics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of linguistics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.LinguisticsWikipedia:WikiProject LinguisticsTemplate:WikiProject LinguisticsLinguistics Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. English Language Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject English Language, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles related to the English language on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.English LanguageWikipedia:WikiProject English LanguageTemplate:WikiProject English LanguageEnglish Language Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the importance scale.

Archives

Archive 1

This page has archives. Topics inactive for 90 days are automatically archived 1 or more at a time by Lowercase sigmabot III if there are more than 5.

In this case, the "the" is required even when using "preeminent", so it can hardly be said to be replacing it: "the preeminent hospital of choice..." (And in fact, "of choice" does the job just as well.) Additionally, the example phrase "five apples the dollar" does not parse in my idiolect. It could be "five apples a dollar" or perhaps "five apples to the dollar", however. --Brion

No, you've got it backwards. He's not saying that "preeminent" replaces "the", but "the" properly emphasized can mean "preeminent." Eg., "The hospital of choice" is equivalent to "The preeminent hospital of choice" as long as the speaker or writer properly emphasizes "the."

I have the "a" versions of distribution on the A, an page. As for the adjective business, something happens there with the the that is more than just the definite article and there ought to be some way to express that. I thought first it was an emphasis, which it is in speech, but I think you can write the preeminent whatever as the whatever and make that work too, but I'm less sure. Maybe written requires italics. Ortolan88 10:33 Aug 23, 2002 (PDT)

Fixed. Ortolan88 15:49 Sep 28, 2002 (UTC)

"It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of either gender." Huh? When is "the" ever used with a pronoun? We don't say "the us," "the it," "the her," or "the them," let alone "the his" or "the theirs." All I can think of is "the one," and "one" is genderless. Cognita (talk) 03:10, 17 December 2020 (UTC)Reply

I am equally confused by this phrasing. Maybe it's a slight error and is meant to say "nouns"? Whatever the case may be, it's confusing and might leave readers and learners with a misunderstanding! ProfessorBlackHole (talk) 01:57, 13 December 2022 (UTC)Reply

The words, "and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender" doesn't seem to make sense. The word "the" isn't used with any pronouns: "the she"? "the him?? "the they"?

It seems like the editor was trying to weigh in on the controversial use of plural pronouns when requested by people identifying as non-binary and not really trying to shed light on the etymology of "the." Maybe the intent was "nouns of any gender"? Woodrathergnot (talk) 18:43, 19 April 2023 (UTC)Reply

@Woodrathergnot, an IP changed "noun" to "pronoun" in Feb 2019, so I've switched it back. As you point out, "pronoun" didn't make sense. Schazjmd (talk) 18:49, 19 April 2023 (UTC)Reply

Thank you! Woodrathergnot (talk) 14:02, 20 April 2023 (UTC)Reply

The redirect Tlie has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 August 22 § Tlie until a consensus is reached. Utopes _{(talk / cont)} 05:36, 22 August 2025 (UTC)Reply

we really dont need a whole page about a three letter, easy to understand, word. SuperMarioBrosLover8-1 (talk) 15:13, 11 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

it exists because it exists AAeditz (talk) 19:40, 24 May 2026 (UTC)Reply