The Definite Article
1. The definite article
The definite article is: the. It has only one form, the, which is used for both singular and plural nouns:
the book, the house, the table
the sofas, the families, the children
The is also used for uncountable nouns:
the cheese, the air, the furniture
2. Use of the definite article
| when something has been mentioned before: | ‘Has he got a car?’ ‘Yes. The car he has is expensive.’ |
| with of: | the colour of my skirt |
| when only one of something exists: | the President, the Pope, the moon, the sky |
| when referring to groups of people or nationalities: | the rich, the sick, the English, the Russian |
| when talking about species (in the context of biology): | The lion is a carnivorous animal. |
| when talking about musical instruments: | I play the guitar. He plays the piano. |
| with the media: | the press, the news, the radio, the papers, the tv
But: I watch television. |
| with superlatives and ordinal numbers: | the first, the second, the best, the only, the last |
| when talking about parts of the body: | He was hurt on the head. |
| when talking about geographical features: | |
| 1. oceans, rivers, mountains:
2. regions: 3. groups of islands: 4. some countries: 5. other: |
1. the Themes, the Alps, the Pacific
2. the Middle East, the Sahara, the Amazon 3. the Solomon Islands, the Caribbean 4. the USA, the Ukraine, The UK, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands 5. the sea, the coast, the hills, the mountains, the countryside |
| with the dates(only in speech): | the twentieth of July, October the fifth |
| talking about entertainment: | the cinema, the theatre, the opera, the museum |
| when referring to hotels and restaurants: | the Hilton, the Grand Hotel, the Oriental |
| with expressions: | the traffic, in the morning, in the afternoon, the metro, the doctor, the dentist, the hospital, the supermarket, the bank |
Ready to test your knowledge?
Put the grammar rules above into practice with the challenge below.
