the: [OE] The nominative forms of the Old English definite article were se (masculine), sēo (feminine), and th?t (neuter – ancestor of modern English that). In the late Old English period se was replaced by the, probably an eroded version of that and perhaps the same word as the Old English relative particle the. Its drafting in to take the place of se was no doubt promoted by the fact that all the inflected forms of the Old English definite article (thone, th?m, th?s, etc) began with th-. When the distinction between genders began to die out in the early Middle English period, the took over as the general form. => that, then, there, this, though
the
definite article, late Old English te, nominative masculine form of the demonstrative pronoun and adjective. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), t?t (neuter), and probably represents se altered by the th- form which was used in all the masculine oblique cases (see below).
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
Plural
Nom.
se
seo
t?t
ta
Acc.
tone
ta
t?t
ta
Gen.
t?s
t?re
t?s
tara
Dat.
t?m
t?re
t?m
t?m
Inst.
ty, ton
--
ty, ton
--
Old English se is from PIE root *so- "this, that" (cognates: Sanskrit sa, Avestan ha, Greek ho, he "the," Irish and Gaelic so "this"). For the t- forms, see that. The s- forms were entirely superseded in English by mid-13c., excepting a slightly longer dialectal survival in Kent. Old English used 10 different words for "the" (see table), but did not distinguish "the" from "that." That survived for a time as a definite article before vowels (that one or that other).
Adverbial use in the more the merrier, the sooner the better, etc. is a relic of Old English ty, the instrumentive case of the neuter demonstrative (see that).
雙語例句
1. In " the black cat " the adjective " black " modifies the noun " cat " .
在the black cat這一詞組中,形容詞 black 修飾名詞cat.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
2. The best thing to do when entering unknown territory is smile.
踏入未知地帶最好的對策就是微笑。
來自美劇《凱莉日記》
3. The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are stronger at the broken places.
生活總是讓我們遍體鱗傷，但到后來，那些受傷的地方會變得更堅強。
來自金山詞霸 每日一句
4. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.
人生就應該是快樂的，要抓住每一天，孩子們，讓你們的生活變得非凡起來。
來自電影《死亡詩社》
5. When life gets hard and you want to give up, remember that life is full of ups and downs, and without the downs, the ups would mean nothing.