Today is our topic of discussion – Definite Article
Definite Article
Definite Article
*The’ is a definite article. It refers to something and somebody particularly.
Usage
Referring Back:
‘The’ is used before a definite noun. When a noun is mentioned again, that is, when it refers back to a noun mentioned already, it takes ‘the’.
Example:
This is an old palace. People believe that the palace was built 500 years ago.
ii) Representing Class:
“The”, like a/an, is used before a singular countable noun mentioned for the first time when it represents a class, that is, when ‘the’ means ‘all/every’.
For example:
The camel is the ship of the desert. The lion is a wild animal
‘the’ is used before adjectives or participles to represent a class of people: the rich, the poor, the dead, the dying, the injured/wounded
For example:
The rich are no necessarily happy. The blind deserve our sympathy.
iv) ‘the’ is used before an adjective to denote a quality:
For example:
the white/yellow of an egg the evil, the good, the beautiful
‘The used before a noun considered unique or extraordinary, that is, a noun treated as equivalent to a superlative adjective. In this construction ‘the’ means ‘the best, the only, or precisely’, so it has a heightening effect on the noun it modifies:
For example:
She is the bride for him.
This is the place for our picnic.
He is the authority on the subject.
‘The’ is used before a noun whose identity is common knowledge or can be easily inferred. In this construction ‘the’ denotes a person’s title, rank, or profession etc:
For example:
- The President
- the King/Queen
- The Principal
- the bench/bar
- The Prophet
- the press/media
- The Postman
- The Prime Minister
‘The’ is used before a singular common noun (place/person) that can be easily inferred from the situation:
For example:
the police station, the post office, the station, the radio
1. Would you close the gate, please?
2. She is listening to the radio.
3. He will be on the air tonight.
4. Turn on/off the tap, please.
Note:
a) radio always takes ‘the’:
She is listening to the radio.
What’s on the radio now?
b) ‘The use of the before television is optional:
What’s on the television now?
What’s on television now?
But the is not used in the expression ‘watch TV’: They are watching TV. (not, the TV)
‘The’ is used before common nouns denoting musical instruments:
For example:
She is playing the violin/piano/sitar.
He is playing the drum/tabla.
He is accompanied on the violin by an Englishman.
‘The’ is used before a noun denoting a unit of measure to mean ‘every’:
For example:
We buy petrol by the gallon/litre.
They are paid wages by the hour/week.
‘The’ is used before both countable and uncountable nouns (singular or plural) that are made definite by:
a) preposition/preposition phrase the boy with long hair the woman in black the milk in the bottle the boys/girls/teachers of this school
b) a relative clause the book/pen/milk/sugar/she bought yesterday the water/tea/coffee he drinks every day the birds/animals that live in a forest
‘The’ is used before names of gulfs, canals, seas, and oceans:
- the Atlantic (ocean)
- the Pacific (ocean)
- the Indian (ocean)
- the Mediterranean Sea
- the Red Sea
- the Persian Gulf
- the Gulf of Mexico
- the Panama Canal
- the Suez Canal
“The’ is used before names of rivers/channels:
- the Padma
- the Thames
- the Brahmaputra
- the Avon
- the Danube
- the Euphrates
- the Ganga
- the Amazon
- the Rhine
- the English Channel
- the Tyne
- the Mississippi
- the Nile
‘The’ is used before the name of these republics/kingdom/countries/states:
- the Netherlands
- the Sudan
- the Czech Republic
- the Congo
- the UK
- the USA
- the Philippines
- the GDR
- the Netherlands
Compare:
Have you been to Canada or the United States?
Note:
a) The is not used after noun +’s:
I haven’t yet read today’s Statesman. (not, the today’s Statesman)
b) Names of magazines/periodicals are now usually used without ‘the’:
Punch, Outlook, Time Sunday, Today, Vogue
‘The’ is used before these nouns:
cathedral, cinema, pictures, theatre, office, station, museum, zoo
Example:
- I am going to the pictures.
- She is going to the cinema/theatre.
- They are going to the zoo.
- He is in the office now.
- (not, She is going to station/museum.)
‘The’ is used before the parts of one’s body and articles of clothing:
The stone hit him on the shoulder.
The trouser you bought fits you well.
I held him by the tie/collar.
More Uses
the sky, the sea, the ground, the country, the environment :
We looked up at all the stars in the sky. (not in sky) Would you like to live country? (not in a town) We must do more to protect the environment. (the natural world around us) But we say space (without the) when we mean ‘space in the universe’.
Compare:
There are millions of stars in space. (not in the space) I tried to park my car, but the space was too small.
We use ‘the’ before ‘same’ (the same):
Your pullover is the same colour as mine. (not ‘is same colour’) “Are these keys the same?” “No, they’re different.”
(go to) the cinema, the theatre:
I go to cinema a lot, but I haven’t been to the theatre for ages. When we say the cinema / the theatre, we do not necessarily mean a specific cinema or theatre.
The + nationality You can use the + nationality adjectives that end in ‘-ch’ or ‘-sh (the French / the English / the Spanish etc.) the meaning is ‘the people of that country”:
The French are famous for their food. (the people of French) The French/the English etc. are plural in meaning. We do not say
We often leave out noun:
The Sheraton (Hotel) the Palace (Theatre) the Guggenheim (museum)
Some names are only ‘the + noun’, for example:
The Acropolis, the Kremlin, the Pentagon
i) Name with ‘of usually have “the”:
For example:
The Bank of England The Museum of Modern Art
The Great Wall of China The Tower of London.
Note:
We say:
The University of Cambridge common noun but Cambridge University (without the)
Many organization have names with ‘the”:
the European Union, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), the Red Cross
