Definite article in a question: “What is the time?”

Question

I am not a native speaker.

Could you please explaine for me: Why do we use definite article in the question:

"What is the time?"

What article's rule we used for this question?

Answer 1

The article "the" indicates that you are referring to a specific instance. So you say, "What is the time?" if you are asking for a specific time. Usually that would mean the time right now, though in context it could mean the time of some event under discussion. (Like, "We're planning a meeting to discuss this. The date of the meeting will be August 12." "Okay. And what is the time?")

Without an article, you would be referring to time in general. If you asked, "What is time?", you would be likely get a philosophical discussion on the nature of time. (Like, "What is time?" "Time is what keeps everything from happenning all at once.")

Answer 2

In your example, we use the because you're referring to the concrete time - the current time. You would use an indefinite article when speaking about an undefined time, like:

Was there ever a time when a man could walk these streets without having to watch his back?

Answer 3

What is time? would be a philisophical question, to which the answer would be something like A construct of human thinking which creates a framework within which events can be placed. The question to which the answer may be Five past seven asks for the identifier (analogous to the name) of the (present) time.