I cleaned the car yesterday / I cleaned my car yesterday

Question

Hello.

Is it possible to use the definite article the or a possessive (my, his,...) in a same sentence?

For example:

a) I cleaned the car (= my car) yesterday.

b) I cleaned my car yesterday.

In what cases is it possible?

I would be very grateful for all your help about this thread.

Thanks.

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

Jesusenglanda) I cleaned the car (= my car) yesterday.

b) I cleaned my car yesterday.

These are both OK. "the car" may be understood to mean "my car", or it may be understood to mean some other car. It depends entirely on the context.

JesusenglandIn what cases is it possible?

Do you mean in what cases is it possible to interchange "the" and "my"? This is grammatically possible in every case where the following noun makes sense with both "my" and "the" -- which is a very large number of cases. As in the "the/my car" case, whether the two are understood to mean the same thing is entirely context-dependent.

I cleaned the car yesterday / I cleaned my car yesterday

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