The word the in The Bus, Train, Plane, The Office and The North West

An ordinary, one of many

The - THE VIP

Catch a plane - any one

the plane / the five o'clock plane 

An office - one of that type

The office - important office, the one where I work, the one mentioned earlier.

The word 'the' turns a word into a noun, when it might otherwise be an adjective. For example, 'north west of South America' could mean out to sea. But 'the north west of south America' means within South America, on land, the north west area.

The word 'the' adds importance. 'A man' means any man. But 'the man' means a particular man.

The following conversation shows how this words.

'The' alerts you to an important person or object ahead. This alerts you to one already mentioned, or nearby. 'That' refers back to an earlier fact, or far off object. Notice the use of the and this and that in the following conversation which I have constructed to show importance and place.

'Do we have any baby birds in the garden this Spring? Last Spring we had lots of birds.'

'No. Not this year. You know the culprit.'

'I don't. Show me.'

'See this egg broken, on the ground under the tree, by the kitchen window?'

'Yes.'

'Do you see that cat at the end of the garden?'

'We need more plants to brighten up the garden. Let's go out to a garden centre. The garden centre a mile away is the nearest.'