Things associated with a previous mention

If you want to talk about something that is associated with an earlier item (even though you haven't mentioned it before) you can use the definite article to show that there is a relationship or association between the items.

I went to the window again to try to smash the glass.

He needed a whisky, but the bottle was empty.

Then I saw a car parked by the side of the road. The driver was asleep.

Here the examples are referring to the glass in the window, the bottle containing the whisky, and so on, and the definite article provides this information. The writer need not have mentioned the glass and the bottle before; the meaning is clear because the writer and reader share the knowledge that windows are made of glass, and that whisky is sold in bottles. You can use abstract as well as concrete nouns in this way.

He occasionally sold a picture by reducing the price.

Anything associated with a previous noun can be mentioned using the definite article, so long as you think your listener or reader shares your associations.

 

Surrounding situation

We saw in section 4 one case where you need not mention an item first before using the definite article, provided that there is an association with a previously mentioned item. However, even this is not necessary if the place or situation you are in makes it clear what you are talking about. If you are in a garden, it is possible to talk about 'the roses' straight away without mentioning them first as 'roses' or 'some roses'. Indeed, if in a garden you talk about 'roses' without the definite article your listener will assume that you are not talking about the particular ones there.

'I can only apologize for the roses. The whole lot should be pulled out.'

'Pass the salt. '

'Where's the phone?'

'It's on the desk. '

You can only use the definite article in this way to refer to things that you and your listener expect to find in the situation. In a kitchen, for example, you could ask 'Where's the salt?', but it would be unusual to say 'Where's the chalk?' unless you regularly keep chalk there. This use is limited to the situation around you and so obviously is mostly found in speech, but it can occur in writing where the situation is obvious; for example, you might see a notice on a gate saying 'Please shut the gate'.