Weekly Tips: No.4
Is "the same" always "the same"?

The answer is "Yes". The word "same" can be both an adjective or a noun, but it still follows "the".

This is because in English, (along with other uses) "the" is used in front of a noun when we expect the listener or reader to understand what we are talking or writing about. The noun may already have been mentioned, for example:
When I was a child, an apple fell from a tree. I ate the apple and planted a pip. Over many years, the pip became a tree. An apple grew on the tree, and. I gave the apple to my son.
Or it may be clear from the situation what we mean:
Do you see the picture on that wall?
The cat is a remarkable animal.

When you make a remark about "sameness", you are obviously referring to something that has already been mentioned, or whose qualities are familiar to both speaker/listener or writer/reader, so it is only natural that "the" is used.

Examples of "same" as an adjective:
The trains run according to the same timetable every day during the week, but there is a different timetable for both Saturday and Sunday.
Many health problems are caused by the fact that we eat the same diet as we used to even though we do not have the same lifestyle.

Examples of "same" as a noun:
Our diet is much the same as it used to be, even though our lifestyle is not.
The Japanese are different from the British in some respects and the same in others.

(Note the use of "as" with "the same" and "from" with different.)