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that vs. the

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 12:00 am
by navit
Which are correct:

1) They arrested that brother of Harry's who owns a pawn shop, not the one who owns a pizza parlor.
2) They arrested the brother of Harry's who owns a pawn shop, not the one who owns a pizza parlor.

3) They painted that door of the building that faces north, not the one that faces east.
4) They painted the door of the building that faces north, not the one that faces east.


The sentences in each pair are supposed to mean the same thing. In the ones with 'that' the speaker isn't supposed to be pointing to anything. 'That' is supposed to be there just to emphasize the idea of specificity. It is supposed to be an emphatic 'the', so to speak. I am not sure that works.

Gratefully,
Navi

Re: that vs. the

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:03 am
by Alan
Yes, the sentences are all grammatical and each pair means the same.

Clearly, if you are identifying something or someone by means of a restrictive relative clause, you do not also need to point at it!