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Definite Article

In grammar , the definite article is a subcategory of decisive set , which participates in the updating of the name nucleus , indicating either that the referent (the thing, the animal, the person in question) is known the actants of the utterance , or as satellites will follow ( adjective , add a name, a proposal on ...) that will allow the caller to identify precisely what represented.

The definite article is the tool type of complete determination. It thus opposes the indefinite article and the partitive article , which in turn, presuppose that the referent is unknown interlocutors:

A swallow came (undefined). The swallow has returned (defined).

Simple Form

The definite article has two forms in the singular ("the" for masculine, and "the" for feminine) and one in the plural (as epicene ) ("the"):

The house I'm talking about ... / The dog in question ... / The children you know ... / The flowers you picked ...

The singular definite article is elided before a word beginning with a vowel phonetically: "the" and "the" become "the":

The butcher, the butcher, another butcher, another butcher ...

The grocer, the grocer, the grocer same, the same grocer ...

The singular definite article may also designate a species or a concept as a whole, and not just one individual:

The dog is the best friend of man.

It is not about a dog and a human individual, but the canine species (all dogs), as well as humans (all humans).

Health agglutinated with "says"

Whether simple or contracted, the definite article can agglutinate with the past participle "saying" to produce the following forms:

- The masculine singular, "said" (contractions "audit" and "said");

- Feminine singular, "said";

- The masculine plural, "said" (contractions, "said" and "said");

- In the feminine plural, "said."

Under these forms, frequently employed in the administrative language, the definite article has a value representing anaphoric and approaches a demonstrative adjective :

Following the recent floods, a restoration of the bridge of the Republic to be done urgently, the passage of motor vehicles will be prohibited on said bridge for fifteen days from the date of this Order.

For "the bridge", "the bridge that was just talk."

When placed before a proper noun, the definite article marks the great respect that a celebrity: "La Callas" Or does the extreme familiarity with respect to a person or animal "The Blackie".