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Nkspb Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Articles usage in a sentence

Hello!
Could you please help me understand, why here the definite article is used, when it is obvious it is not the only service of this kind out there?

It was written in a article?
"Pushbullet, the service that acts as a bridge between your mobile and desktop OSes..."

Thanks in advance!
  

Top answer

The writer is writing as if it is the only such service. Perhaps he does not know of the others, or perhaps he just wants to pretend his service is unique. Clive

— Clive

  • The writer is writing as if it is the only such service.
  • Perhaps he does not know of the others, or perhaps he just wants to pretend his service is unique.
  • Clive
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24 Answers
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The writer is writing as if it is the only such service. Perhaps he does not know of the others, or perhaps he just wants to pretend his service is unique.

Clive
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Could you clarify, please, if I understand all correctly?

If I am with a friend on a party and then say:

"Look at that person. He is the person who I adore"

Can it mean that he is the only of this kind on the party?
What does it mean for the listener?

2) If I give a bunch of tools to my friend and say:

"These are the tools I took f
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nkspbIf I give a bunch of tools to my friend and say:"These are the tools I took from you"can it mean that these are some of them in some context?
No
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nkspbIf I am with a friend on a party and then say: "Look at that person. He is the person who I adore"Can it mean that he is the only of this kind at the party?
I suppose it could, if the two people have been talking about the men at he party and discussing how attractive they found them.
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Thanks for your reply.

Could you clarify please why it can't?

It is contradictory with what I heard before - the situation/context says a part of the message for you.
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nkspb2) If I give a bunch of tools to my friend and say:"These are the tools I took from you"can it mean that these are some of them in some context? - Like when there are several boxes of tools, and I show at one and say this phrase. - Or when we are entering some room and there is a table there and tools on it, I say this phrase and it means "These are those of the tool
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Partly, thanks. I understand "all the ..." is too strong a phrase to mean some within not a clear context, but in a more clear context, like within a list/choice, can it?

What isn't clear is why "the tools I took from you" can't be understood like some of them within the contexts I provided in my previous post quoted by you?

It seems to be eventually the same as an example about
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nkspbWhat isn't clear is why "the tools I took from you" can't be understood like some of them within the contexts I provided in my previous post quoted by you?It seems to be eventually the same as an example about a person at the party.
For the person at the party I created a context in which the speakers were already talking only about the men in the room. T
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Thanks!
fivejedjonThe definite article in combination with a defining context defines precisely the singular or plural noun that it defines.
Yes, it is rather an overdefined phrase
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