“The two” as a synonym for “both”

Question

I wonder if the two can be used as a synonym for both when talking about two separate things. Let me follow my question with an example sentence:

Both texts talk about negative consequences of smoking

The two texts talk about negative consequences of smoking

Is the second sentence correct?

Oh, look; I found a third text that talks about negative consequences of smoking. So, what do you say now? “The three texts talk about negative consequences of smoking.” So why wouldn’t “the two” be correct? — Scott - Слава Україні, Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 4:40
I'm wondering why you question the correctness of "The two ..." when "The three …", "The four …", etc., are obviously correct. — Scott - Слава Україні, Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 16:12
@Scott it's not a question of is it correct. It's a question of if 'both' is the same as 'the two' — Mitch, Commented Sep 7, 2016 at 20:47

Random Dude · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-22 22:12:32Z

2

answered Aug 22, 2016 at 22:12

Random Dude

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