# Grammar/Style Question: The The **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715 "2001-05-17T12:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/1 "2001-05-17T12:57:35Z")
There’s a movie I like. It’s called _Star Wars_. I want to buy its soundtrack. So I would say, “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy the _Star Wars_ soundtrack.” There’s another movie I like. It’s called _The Shining_. I want to buy its soundtrack. So would I say: 1. “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy the _Shining_ soundtrack.” 2. “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy the _The Shining_ soundtrack.” ? Note that option 1 sounds better but causes me to abbreviate the title, and perhaps I don’t have that right. Option 2 sounds awkward but preserves the integrity of the title. So which is correct? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/2 "2001-05-17T13:13:45Z")
Recast the sentence: “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy the soundtrack for _The Shining_.” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/3 "2001-05-17T13:18:25Z")
I think that in either case, you’ll be understood, but to be grammatically correct about it, you would take **Scarlett’s** advice and recast the sentence. Hearing “the” twice in succession never sounds right to us, and many people leave one out in common speech. In writing, it looks strange as well, so we merely redo the sentence accordingly. Incidentally, though, if this were a Sam Goody, I think you’d be OK with the first one. After all, how many soundtracks could they have that are actually glowing? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/4 "2001-05-17T13:38:38Z")
I’d go with option 1, though I would write it: “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy _The Shining_ soundtrack.” I don’t think a double article would be grammatically correct. Another example: “I read _The New York Times_” versus “I read the _Weekly World News_.” The “The” (like that?) is part of the name of _The New York Times_, whereas it is not part of the name of the _Weekly World News_. I don’t think anyone would say “I read the _The New York Times_.” ---
**Author:** ![ziji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@ziji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ziji)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/5 "2001-05-17T16:14:04Z")
Scarlett67 is right. The best thing to do when faced with this sort of conundrum is recast the sentence. We can’t have “…the The…” and we can’t leave it out. While we may, in conversation, say “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy The Shining soundtrack,” it is not correct. The word “the” goes with “soundtrack,” so you cannot omit it. You would not say “I’m going to Sam Goody to buy Grease soundtrack.” And how the heck do you get italics and bold characters in your messages? I can’t seem to do it. Is it my browser? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/6 "2001-05-17T16:28:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ziji \* > \*\*And how the heck do you get italics and bold characters in your messages? I can’t seem to do it. Is it my browser? \*\* To see how to do this, click the Quote button at the bottom of a post in which italics, bold, or whatever has been used. This will show you the underlying coding, which isn’t all that complicated. You put brackets around “i” to turn on italics and brackets around “/i” to turn them off. Same for the others, only with “b” and “u” or whatever substituted accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![lesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@lesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesa)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/7 "2001-05-17T23:02:53Z")
Maybe you decide to go to Sam Goody and buy a CD by alt rock band The The. So you are going to buy the The The CD. When The The unexpectedly, after many years, put out a new CD [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) suddenly discovered a problem. When someone searched for “The The,” they got every title with “The” in it. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-style-question-the-the/65715/8 "2001-05-18T00:54:33Z")
If you’re writing it, recast the sentence. If you’re just talking, what probably will happen is you will omit a _the_ without thinking about it. I did a lot of transcription of recorded conversations in college for a phonetics class, and people omit, slur, and run together words like you wouldn’t believe. I don’t mean lazy teenagers either. Everybody does it. That kind of minor error is way under the radar. I was going to make a funny joke but **lesa** beat me to it. Oh wait… I mean, I was going to make the “the ‘the the’” joke but then I thought of a better one : ) -fh