Knowledge Bomb

tristn:

Trivia question for the grammar nerds: When is “the” not an article?

When it is an adverb, as in the following:

  • The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
  • …and no one will be (none) the wiser.
  • Raynor really is a weirdo, the more I think about it.

The usage requires a comparative, that is an adjective/adverb modified by more or the affix -er.

[NB: This has been in my drafts folder for a while. I’m not sure where I meant to take this point or why I meant to wrinkle your brains.]

Does this derive from the times when þon was an instrumental in Old English?  I wonder.