To Mr Clive (or else) about this and the

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I am extremely grateful to Mr Clive for his kind answers to my many questions. Many thanks.1. Then, in a previous question of mine about the usage of this and the,  you answered a sub-question and repied that in the sentence (in a car) "The/this car is very old.", 'this' is appropriate. Not so long ago, however, I stumbled on the sentence "Please sit down. 'The' plane's about to take off." I'm mixed up.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I am extremely grateful to Mr Clive for his kind answers to my many questions. Many thanks. You're welcome.

1. Then, in a previous question of mine about the usage of this and the, you answered a sub-question and repied that in the sentence (in a car) "The/this car is very old.", 'this' is appropriate. Not so long ago, however, I stumbled on the sentence "Please sit down. 'The' plane's about to take off." I'm mixed up.

'This plane is about to take off' would certainly not be wrong. But it is not commonly said.
To some extent it's just idiomatic.
However, here's another thought that may (or may not) provide some explanation.
When people get on a plane and prepare for flight, and know the plane is sitting at the start of the runway, most of their attention is focused on the specific plane. Hence. 'the' reflects that everyone is already thinking about this specific plane.

Compare that to the situation where 3 people get into a car. They don't really think much about the car.

Here's another thought. This may be a better explanation.

When the flight attendant first begins to speak of the plane, he or she typically begins with eg 'This plane has 3 emergency exits . . . ' Subsequent references to the plane can thus just use 'The plane . . . '. .

Clive

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