the

• art. 这；那
• adv. 更加（用于比较级，最高级前）

中文词源

来自古英语 the,那个，来自 PIE*to,指示代词，词源同 this,that.

英文词源

the

the: [OE] The nominative forms of the Old English definite article were se (masculine), sēo (feminine), and thæt (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, thæm, thæs, 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 þe, nominative masculine form of the demonstrative pronoun and adjective. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), þæt (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	þæt	þa
Acc.	þone	þa	þæt	þa
Gen.	þæs	þære	þæs	þara
Dat.	þæm	þære	þæm	þæm
Inst.	þy, þon	--	þy, þon	--

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 þ- 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 The s- forms were entirely superseded in English by mid-13c., excepting a slightly longer dialectal survival in Kent.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 þy, the instrumentive case of the neuter demonstrative (see that).

双语例句

1. In " the black cat " the adjective " black " modifies the noun " cat " .

在the black cat这一词组中,形容词 black 修饰名词cat.

来自《简明英汉词典》

2. The best thing to do when entering unknown territory is smile.

踏入未知地带最好的对策就是微笑。

来自美剧《凯莉日记》

3. The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are stronger at the broken places.

生活总是让我们遍体鳞伤，但到后来，那些受伤的地方会变得更坚强。

来自金山词霸 每日一句

4. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.

人生就应该是快乐的，要抓住每一天，孩子们，让你们的生活变得非凡起来。

来自电影《死亡诗社》

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.

当生活很艰难，你想要放弃的时候，请记住，生活充满了起起落落，如果没有低谷，那站在高处也失去了意义。

来自