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"Electronic gadgets such as the smartphone, the laptop, and the 3D printer have drastically increased work productivity."

Why does the sentence use the not a if it wants to speak generally about smartphones or laptops ?

Does the sentence use the here because it speaks about three distinctive groups of gadgets ?

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj7yVGVUc-w

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This sentence uses "the" to convey the idea or class of each kind of item, or to allude to the properties of each of these kinds of items. Alternately, one could substitute: "...such as smartphones, laptops, and 3D printers..." for the same meaning.

Using "a" would imply that one single smartphone, laptop and 3D printer have drastically increased work productivity.

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The definite article (the) is used because the reference is to smartphones/laptops/3D printers generally, and as a member of the class "electronic gadgets." Consider this definition (from Oxford Dictionaries):

the
DETERMINER

3 Used to make a generalized reference to something rather than identifying a particular instance:
"he taught himself to play the violion"
"I worry about the future"

3.1 Used with a singular noun to indicate that it represents a whole species or class:
"they placed the African elephant on their endangered list"

You would only use the indefinite article (a or an) here if you were talking about an actual instance of one of those devices, especially if the quantity is one. Consider this definition:

a1 (also an)
DETERMINER

1 Used when mentioning someone or something for the first time in a text or conversation:
"a man came out of the room"
"it has been an honour to meet you"

1.1 Used with units of measurement to mean one such unit:
"a hundred"
"a quarter of an hour"

For example, the indefinite article is appropriate in the following sentence, but the definite article is not:

Nowadays, most people carry a smartphone.

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  • Thank you so much LMS , so what I have got now is when we think of smartphons as a class or a member of higher class we use "the" and when we think of a smartphone as one smartphone we use "a" ... is that correct ?
    – Gamal Thomas
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 17:15
  • In this context, yes. Smartphones are a member of the class of electronic gadgets.
    – LMS
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 19:33

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