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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

this/the

1. I went to [this/the] bridge that I always go and thought of jumping into the water.

2. I remember [this/the] email you sent me, it had animations of a guy running naked.

What's the difference between this and the in the contexts above? I feel there are some differences but don't know how to describe them. I could be wrong.

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

"The" is much better here, if not the only correct option... "This" doesn't sound right to me. " "The" does not bear such a meaning, it just shows that it is a certain item in question.

— Ant_222

  • "The" is much better here, if not the only correct option...
  • "This" doesn't sound right to me.
  • " "The" does not bear such a meaning, it just shows that it is a certain item in question.
  • HTH
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2 Answers
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"The" is much better here, if not the only correct option...

"This" doesn't sound right to me. It creates a kind of tautology: a thing (bridge, email) is restictedly indicated two times: firstly by "this" and secondly by a subordinate clause "that..."

"The" does not bear such a meaning, it just shows that it is a certain item in question.

HTH
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I went to the bridge that I always go to and ... is the usual, neutral statement. You'll be using this one 99% of the time, I suspect.
______________

Very informally, this can mean a certain (one) (that you, the listener, don't know about):

I went to this bridge that I always go to = I went to a certain bridge that I always go to
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