Sunday, February 5, 2017

The use of the definite article in "The two men appeared out of nowhere"



The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.
-Chapter 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Dark Lord



According to this web site, English native speakers use the definite article in front of a noun when they believe the hearer/reader knows exactly what they are referring to. But the sentence above is the very first sentence in Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows. We don't know anything about the two men and the narrow, moonlit lane.


I looked up the use of the definite article on books and the Internet. But I couldn't find out why the definite article is used in front of that nouns.


Could you explain why the definite article is used?




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