It's difficult to spread butter if it's just come out of the fridge.

Question

Hello.Is the sentence below correct and does the verb 'come out' sound natural in this context?It's difficult to spread butter if it's just come out of the fridge.Maybe some other verb would fit better?Perhaps there should be 'a fridge'?

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

Your sentence is correct and natural.

Reegis · Answer

Thanks <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisMaybe some other verb would fit better?

No. It's fine. Not better, but different: been taken instead of come.

CJ

Reegis · Answer

CalifJimNo. It's fine. Not better, but different: been taken instead of come.

I see. Thanks!

This 'the' before 'fridge' is still haunting me... Obviously this sentence is general, then why it is natural to use 'the fridge' instead of 'a fridge' here?

I looked this up in a dictionary:
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/fridge?q=fridge

This dessert can be served straight from the fridge.
So undoubtedly people say it this way, but I don't know why.

[edit]
I have just found that we also should say "to look something up in the dictionary" instead of "to look something up in a dictionary". Maybe because of the same reason?

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisThis 'the' before 'fridge' is still haunting me.

Maybe you need an exorcist. Stop worrying about it.

It's almost always going to be 'the fridge', whichever fridge is associated somehow with the people explicitly or implicitly involved with the situation in the rest of the sentence.

ReegisI have just found that we also should say "to look something up in the dictionary" instead of "to look something up in a dictionary". Maybe because of the same reason?

Yes, though my intuition tells me that 'a dictionary' is not so uncommon as 'a fridge'.

I suppose it's an unstated informal rule about "things most people have and regularly use". take the bus, go to the bank, go to the post office, when you go up the stairs, leave the house, put something on the stove, etc. But it's still a matter of the specific sentence, so we can't say it's always right to use 'the' instead of 'a' in these cases.

CJ

Reegis · Answer

CalifJimMaybe you need an exorcist. Stop worrying about it.

Hehe, I just like to understand things

This way my knowledge is more useful and more safely I can extrapolate known rules to other sentences/cases.

So is it precise to say that 'the fridge' and 'the dictionary' in such sentences is just a set phrase?
If I use the indefinite article in such context, will this be just unnatural or also a grammatical error?

[edit]
After you edited your post, one more thought has come to my mind - maybe this 'the' in such phrases does not mean a given object or appliance, but rather it symbolizes the purpose why we use/do this.

CalifJim · Answer

ReegisSo is it precise to say that 'the fridge' and 'the dictionary' in such sentences is just a set phrase?

I wouldn't use the word 'precise'. It's reasonable to call those set phrases, I suppose, though I haven't heard them called that.

ReegisIf I use the indefinite article in such context, will this be just unnatural or also a grammatical error?

Just unnatural in most cases. Again, it depends on the sentence and how it matches or doesn't match reality.

If you only have one refrigerator and you say that you're going to put something in a refrigerator (in your own home), it's going to be wrong. The mistake is somewhere on the border between grammar (syntax) and meaning (semantics), but probably closer to a semantics error.

CJ

Reegis · Answer

Thanks CalifJim. Now I think I understand it better. Perhaps when I learn more sentences (and as you say - analyze them case by case) I will get the feel of articles

It's difficult to spread butter if it's just come out of the fridge.

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