1.175 modifiers: specifying or expanding

When you use a modifier between 'the' and a noun, you do not always do it in order to make clear who or what is being referred to. There are two other reasons why you might use a modifier.

Firstly, if you have already referred to someone or something using a modifier, you sometimes continue to use the modifier when referring to them again. For example, if you first refer to a car as 'a yellow car', you may continue to refer to it as 'the yellow car', even though no other cars are involved in what you are saying or writing.

Secondly, you might want to add further information about someone or something that you have already mentioned. For example, if you first refer to someone as 'a woman' in a sentence such as 'A woman came into the room', you might later want to refer to her as 'the unfortunate woman' or 'the smiling woman'.

This is a very common use in written English, especially in stories, but it is not often used in conversation.