Another inspired blog post…..last week’s blog post was inspired by a former student of mine. This week’s blog post was inspired by something I heard on the radio this week. I was listening to KGO 810 AM and heard Ronn Owens, a popular KGO host, talking about the word the. I started thinking about the quirkiness of the word and decided it would make a fun post.
The is, of course, an article in the English language, along with a and an. In fact, I wrote a post about articles just a couple of weeks ago. But this is different.
Ronn Owens, if you read this post, please know that I borrowed some things from your broadcast, but I am giving you full credit, and I will post the link to the radio show at the end of this post!
Okay. So what does the word the mean? What is it used for? It is the definite article in the English language . The indefinite articles are a and an. When you talk about “a book,” you could be talking about any book (using the indefinite article). However, when you talk about “the book,” you are talking about a specific book (using the definite article). That part is pretty straightforward.
Most languages have articles, but then some don’t. For example, Japanese and Russian don’t have articles. However, before you think how much less confusing that might be, consider that French and Spanish are among the languages that have articles with gender! Every noun is either feminine or masculine, and the gender doesn’t really have much to do with the noun at all. In French, the indefinite pronoun is un (masculine) or une (feminine). The definite pronoun (the in English) is la for feminine, le for masculine, and les for plural. And German has masculine, feminine and neuter articles!
But back to English. The is a quirkly word in itself, and someone new to the language must have a difficult time figuring out whether or not to put the before a world at all. Consider these:
Up here in Northern California, we travel (or sit in traffic) on 101. In Massachusetts (I know because I used to live there), we risk our lives on 128 and 495. But (and if you watch Saturday Night Live, you know all about this one)….you take the 405 to the 110. (Forgive me if I have my freeways confused!) So why don’t we take the 101?
In Boston you take the T. But in San Francisco, you don’t take the BART. You take BART.
In America we go to the hospital, but in Britain, you go to hospital.
You go to the mall, to the park, to the store, and to the lake…..but you go to school and to work. You can go to the school, but it implies a slightly different meaning. Perhaps we don’t put the in front of school or work because they are repetitive activities, more like verbs in a way. You go to school, if you attend regularly. You go to the school if you are visiting, or if your child is in trouble there.
You go to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, and the Grand Canyon. But you go to Yosemite.
You go to the police station. But then you go to jail.
You go to the bathroom. But then, you go to bed.
You take the bus and the train, but do you take the plane? Taking the plane sounds as if you stole it. Most of the time we simply fly.
You go to the bank. But then you pay your taxes at city hall.
You go on the rides at the fair, but then you eat funnel cake and fried Twinkies.
You get the point….it sure takes the cake……
Here is a link to the podcast of Ronn Owen’s November 11 show….it is November 11, 11 a.m. segment, about 15 minutes in.
http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=861&c=5331&f=2086723
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I enjoy your blog, especially from the perspective of being a former editor. Once a word girl, always one. I got a kick out of your explaining usage of “the.” It’s funny that you say we talk about taking 101. My mom lives in Arizona and in recent years there was a highway 101 constructed. Everyone refers to it as “the 101.” Crazy, right?
Glad you like the blog! I wonder why the Arizonans (??) call it the 101….but then, they don’t change their clocks either, do they? (Smart idea)
Thank you for reminding all those SoCal transplants that we say “101”. I HATE hearing about traffic on “the 101” or “the 12”! If you are going to move up here (and add to the traffic!) at least have the courtesy to refer to the freeways in the local lingo!
You said it, Annie!
Hi Arlene
I lived in Los Angeles all my life until 10 years ago when I moved to the Bay Area. Not only did we say “the” 405, but we also said we were taking “the” 101. Just a thought.
Oh, and regarding taking the bus, actually we say we are taking “a” plane.
I love reading everything you write. It is such fun.
Susan
Glad you like the blog! That is true…”the” 101 is in Southern Cal too! Yes, we do say taking a plane…I was just trying to make a point. Lots of things use the indefinite article rather than the definite. And there are some other fancy, less-known articles too — or words that are sometimes thought of as articles. I try to keep it simple….gets me less confused!
The habit of inserting “the” before highway numbers in Southern California probably arose from an early highway/freeway naming convention. Before the Interstate highway system was built, the Los Angles basin already had several freeways and principle highways over mostly state and some “U.S.” routes. The state highway numbers are parceled out using an obscure method that must make sense to a bureaucrat in at CalTrans, but have never made much sense to those outside of that department.
Anyway, the routes were given names relating to their destination or route: The Santa Ana freeway, the Santa Monica freeway, the Ventura freeway, the Foothill freeway, the Pacific Coast Highway, etc. Eventually, many of the routes were renumbered under the Interstate highway system (but not necessarily in a consistent manner, e.g. I-5 (The 5) includes portions of the Golden State freeway and the Santa Ana freeway). Once these numbers began to be used, the habit of “the” continued, but with a number rather than a name (where the “the” seemed more natural).
The numbering is partially based on financing. The Interstate highways have some funding from the Federal government (usually the bulk of funding) from the Interstate Highway fund. U.S. highways (e.g US 101) also receives Federal funding, but a lower percentage from the highway trust fund. Finally, the state routes receive the smallest portion of Federal funding from highway funds that are not committed to other specific highway programs.
In the SF Bay area, most freeways are referred to by their numbers — even before the Interstate system was created. Often, people use the numbers (I-80, Hwy 13, etc.) even though those freeways have names. Though the Nimitz freeway is often referred to its name (especially through Oakland) rather than its number (I-880). But local convention is that the definite article is not used with the numbers. I’ll bet that few people actually know the correct names of the Bay Area freeways (unless the radio traffic reporters are now using those names). It is obvious, for example, that the MacArthur Fwy parallels the route of MacArthur Avenue. But CA 13 “Warren Fwy” was often called the Foothill freeway as it parallels Foothill Blvd through the Oakland Hills. I’ve hardly ever heard mention of the John T. Knox Fwy (that parallels Carlson Blvd and Cutting Blvd from Albany to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
I never cease to be amazed by your knowledge, Pete!