In case of fire, follow [the] red arrows to the emergency exit.
Good morning.
In case of fire, follow [the] red arrows to the emergency exit.
Should we put 'the' before 'red arrows' in the sentence above? The context is one person reminding another what the security instructions are, but they aren't close to these arrows and don't see them. They might be sitting at their desks and just trying to visualize where to go in case of fire.
1) So, should we use the definite article here?
2) Does it boil down to what the speaker thinks about the knowledge of the listener?
3) Should he use 'the' if he assumes that the listener must have seen them in his life (or is somehow familiar with them) and without 'the' if he assumes that the listener is not familiar with them and will have to search for them?
Top answer
" If the answer is 'yes' we use 'the'. The next secret is that there are two different ways to know which . 1) from the real-world context (world) 2) from the textual context (word) In this case I'd depend more on the word context than on the world context.
- " If the answer is 'yes' we use 'the'.
- The next secret is that there are two different ways to know which .
- 1) from the real-world context (world) 2) from the textual context (word) In this case I'd depend more on the word context than on the world context.
- 'to the emergency exit' qualifies (modifies) 'red arrows'.
- By doing so this phrase specifies which red arrows are being referred to.
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The first secret about 'the' is that it answers the question "Do we know which?" If the answer is 'yes' we use 'the'.
The next secret is that there are two different ways to know which.
1) from the real-world context (world)
2) from the textual context (word)
In this case I'd depend more on the word context than on the world context. 'to the emergency
0For very correct English, I'd write In case of a fire, follow the red arrows to the emergency exit. I'd say 'the' red arrows because it is a reasonable that the people who work there have seen or are aware of these arrows. [That's what fire drills are conducted for.]
But in the real world, I'd try to write it as briefly as I could.
In case of fire, follow red arrows to
0
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