Englishfor English speakers
the
Determiner
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Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
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Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
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Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
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Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
uncanny
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adjective
(= eldritch, weird, unearthly)
suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
an eldritch screech
the three weird sisters
stumps...had uncanny shapes as of monstrous creatures
— John Galsworthy
an unearthly light
he could hear the unearthly scream of some curlew piercing the din
— Henry Kingsley
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adjective
(= preternatural)
surpassing the ordinary or normal
Beyond his preternatural affability there is some acid and some steel
— George Will
his uncanny sense of direction