Grammar: Word classes: Determiners: Referring to specific people, things, etc

Definite article (the)

Using the to point outwards

We also use the definite article the to point to something in the immediate or wider situation, called pointing 'outwards'. 

Pointing to immediate situation

Outward pointing to the immediate situation of the speaker and hearer is very common in speech:

Mr Gong	Has anyone seen my glasses?
Mrs Gong	They're on the table.

Here Mr Gong can identify the table because it is in the room that he and Mrs Gong are in (both speakers can see the table). Such outward pointing to the immediate situation of the speaker and hearer also occurs in writing, especially in public notices:

In the event of a fire, do not use the lift. 

Obviously this sign is likely to be placed near a lift, so the lift is found in the immediate situation of the reader. 

Pointing to wider situation

Pointing outward to the wider situation is more complex, often requiring several steps to identify what is being pointed to:

Here we can identify the keyhole as being in a door to the flat of the Gong family, without any door having been mentioned. We can do this because we know that flats have doors. This is an example of outward pointing to the wider situation of our culture. 

Some of the things or people we may point to in the wider situation of our culture are special cases: things that are unique (air, sky), transportation systems (bus, train) and communication systems (mail, news, radio), and social institutions (bank, doctor).

Pointing to people or things considered unique

When we consider something unique (air, sky, moon, atmosphere, earth, equator, sea, universe, weather, world), we use the definite article the: 

Miss Lee thought the air was too polluted for young children.
Mr Gong looked at the sky to see if it would rain. 
GrumpyGhost didn't like the moon to be so bright when he moved around the city. 

But we need to be careful when pointing to something that we think of as unique because it may only be unique in our culture rather than in the whole world:

Today the Chief Executive announced a new initiative to reduce air pollution in Hong Kong. 

People in Hong Kong will know who the Chief Executive points to, ie the head of the government of the SAR. However, someone not familiar with the system of government in Hong Kong may assume that Chief Executive refers to the head of a large corporation.

Pointing to communication systems

When we point to a communication system (mail /post, news, press, telephone, television), we use the definite article the:

Granny Gong waits impatiently for the post to arrive every day. 
Mr Gong keeps the radio on to listen to the race broadcast. 

The reason for using the definite article the is that we consider the post, the radio etc to be unique means or systems of communication. However, if we want to focus on an actual communications apparatus (ie, a [short wave] radio, a television [set]), we use the indefinite article a: 

Mr Gong keeps a radio in his workroom so he can listen to the races. 

When pointing to television, we can either use the definite article the or omit it without any difference in meaning:

Kitty watched her favourite pop star on the television.
Kitty watched her favourite pop on television. 

Pointing to television without the is becoming more common.

Pointing to public transport systems

When we point to a public transport system (boat, bus, ferry, hovercraft, jetfoil, MTR, tram), we generally use the definite article the:

Mr Gong decided to take the ferry to Lantau. 

When using the, we are thinking of 'the ferry' as a transportation system, considering it in contrast to 'the train' or 'the bus'. 

However, we could also use the indefinite article:

Mr Gong decided to take a ferry to Lantau. 

When using a, we are thinking of one of the ferries, ie an individual boat or ship, rather than the transportation system of which a particular ferry is a part.  

Note that whenever we use by to indicate how we are travelling, we omit the definite article the:

Ricky travels to school by bus. 

We also omit the definite article the when we use by with some communications systems, such as mail and post:

Granny Gong sent a parcel by courier rather than by post. 

Pointing to social institutions

When we point to certain kinds of professional people, or to certain kinds of places or buildings, we use the definite article the although the people, places or buildings may not have been mentioned before:

Dotty has not been to the dentist for a long time. 

Here the dentist is referred to generally, ie as a social institution. Other social institutions that are often pointed to using the definite article the include: the bank, the doctor, the law, the police station, the post office.

With certain other social institutions, we often omit the, particularly when they follow a preposition (to, at, in) :

Kitty has gone to school.
Mrs Gong stayed at home.

Other social institutions that are often used without the definite article the include: church, college, hospital, kindergarten, prison, university, work. Note that if we are pointing to a specific building housing the institution, then an article is usually used (except in the cases of home and work):

Miss Lee parked her car near the school.

Note that some places of worship (temple, synagogue, mosque) require the definite article the:

Ricky's friend Hassan goes to the mosque for Friday prayer.

As a general rule we could say:

	Institutions with short-term 'customers/clients' (patient at doctor/dentist, customer at post office) take the.
	Institutions with long-term 'members' (student at university, patient in hospital, prisoner in prison) take no article.

It may still be safest for students to learn by heart which nouns fall into which category.