Submitted 6 months ago by Grunt4019@lemm.ee to [deleted]
in my experience, people use both, but in different contexts.
“in the mirror” tends to more often refer to a metaphorical “mirror”, typically when discussing self-reflection
“in a mirror” tends to refer most often to actual mirrors that exist
A fair guess, but this isn’t one of those times when a grammatical error becomes normalized through common usage.
There is no grammar rule that separates speaking literally versus metaphorically in this case.
“You have something on your face; go take a look in the mirror” is just as correct in English as "I need to take a good look in the mirror and change my ways.
“You have something on your face; go take a look in the mirror” is just as grammatically correct in English
yes, but only if you’re referring to a specific mirror. so, “go look in the mirror” would be appropriate if you’re also indicating to/pointing at a mirror, or there’s been a specific mirror under discussion already (or if the audience already knew there was only one mirror they could be referring to.)
also, it’s not technically a grammatical error, but one of poor style/form.
In languages that distinguish definiteness (e.g. English) usually if you’re talking about a “kind of thing”, you can use either the definite or indefinite form and make sense. Only if you’re talking about a specific thing does the distinction matter: “a mirror” = a mirror I’m now introducing and you don’t know about yet, “the mirror” = the mirror we talked about before and you already know about. There are slight stylistic differences what’s preferred in what contexts depending on the language, but in German too you can say “in den Spiegel schauen”.
I look in the mirror when I have a specific mirror in mine when I say it. Otherwise it’s a mirror.
My assumption would be that it’s because we don’t really look at mirrors per se but rather the reflection in them, so the definite article is indicating the fungibility of the mirror itself. This total speculation on my part though and I might be totally wrong.
I like this interpretation. Fungible is a great way to describe the function of the physical mirror in the phrasing.
Maybe there’s a cultural idea about mirrors being somehow “the same”. After all, a mirror shows the same thing regardless of which one it is. Or related in cultural mythology to a singular adjoining world that contains your doppelganger (in such media, you don’t usually have a separate mirror self for every mirror, but one that can be accessed from any mirror). Also could be a turn of phrase that stuck without a good reason.
Because no matter in what mirror you look, they‘re all the same. That‘s why we say the clock or the calendar. It‘s universal.
how about “going to the doctor”? :D
We say “the doctor” when talking about the concept of a doctor. We tend say “my doctor” and not “the doctor” when talking about what our respective doctor told us. Kind of like how we refer to the clock as “my clock” when we notice a difference to the universally accepted concept.
We like to think English follows a consistent set of rules.
It doesn’t.
Because there’s only one mirror world and all mirrors are windows into it.
Yes, that’s what I came here to say
I can’t answer your question. But I’ll bet it’s the same reason we say we saw something “on the TV.”
I feel like that’s an elderly thing. Most people cut out the “the”
I suspect it has to do with being a sort of household appliance. Similar to the fridge, the TV, the bathtub, etc. People think about it in that sense most frequently and it becomes the common parlance.
I'm not a linguist, but here's my guess.
Take these sentences where a similar thing happens.
In these cases, the noun isn't actually that important, more than it is what you're doing with the noun. These nouns represent the general act of doing something, and I guess since that action is a singular specific thing, we use "the".
This applies to "Look in the mirror." The actual mirror doesn't really matter much. The focus is on the general act of looking at your clear reflection.
Yes I know this, the reason that I asked this question is because it is a departure from the rules laid out here. Oftentimes we say “the mirror” even though we are not referring to any specific mirror.
then the answer is 'oftentimes youre wrong'
Thanks for this. The rules it describes were what I was thinking but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Mirrors used to be expensive so I imagine it came from the fact a whole family would share just 1.
Do you think maybe ‘a mirror’ refers to actually visually looking at a mirror and ‘the mirror’ refers to taking inventory of yourself? Unless there’s actually a mirror nearby that you’re referring to.
I feel like it has to do with the “mystical” or metaphorical perception of mirrors, especially early on.
Like, as if looking “into a mirror” is analogous to looking "into a (or rather: the) “mirror world”, if that makes sense.
Kind of the same reason we use the proposition “in” or “into” rather than the more physically correct “at”.
Makes sense to me because I’m referring to a specific mirror, the one in my bathroom.
Imo, it’s because “the mirror” means “the reflexion in the mirror” you rarely actually look at a mirror itself
kabe@lemmy.world 6 months ago
English teacher here. Articles in English can be really confusing but essentially we use the definite article in this situation because:
ALERT@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Ukrainian here. IMO, the first statement is half-stupid, the second one is half-overcomplicated :) no offense to you personally, of course. I understand the whole concept of articles in English and know (at least I thought I knew before this post) their correct usage, and in all use cases I can remember the article uses are logically acceptable for a foreigner, but this one with the mirror and the bathroom is messed up a bit :)
kabe@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Welcome to English, my friend. No one ever clained that it wasn’t a pain in the arse to learn :)
jaybone@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The second example is quite good imo. You would never say “I’m going to a bathroom.” Even if you were in a stadium with hundreds of bathrooms, you would still say you are going to the bathroom.
Same as you might say I’m taking the train. Not usually taking a train, though I’ve heard that too sometimes. Though oddly you usually say I’m taking a plane, not the plane. Also I’m taking the freeway, not a freeway. I’m usually going to the doctor, less often than a doctor.
grrgyle@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
Tell me you haven’t read Jonathan Strange without telling me you haven’t read Jonathan Strange 😏 obviously it’s because all mirrors are connected - as entrances to the King’s Way of old.