Look at these examples to see when the is and isn't used.
I'm going to bed.
I walk to work.
My children are going to start school.
I visited the school yesterday.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
Here are some ways we use articles in common phrases and place names.
Common phrases
We don't usually use an article in expressions with bed, work and home.
go to bed / be in bed
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work
go home / be at home / get home / stay at home
We also don't normally use an article in expressions with school, university, prison and hospital.
start school / go to school / be at school
go to university / be at university
be sent to prison / go to prison / be in prison
go to hospital / be in hospital
But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient, etc.
My son has started school now. I went to the school to meet his teacher.
I went to the prison a lot when I was a social worker.
I'm at the hospital. My sister has just had a baby.
Place names
We don't normally use an article for continents, most countries, cities, towns, lakes, mountains or universities. So, we say:
Africa, Asia, Europe
India, Ghana, Peru, Denmark
Addis Ababa, Hanoi, New York, Moscow
Lake Victoria, Lake Superior, Lake Tanganyika
Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus
Cardiff University, Harvard University, Manchester University
Some countries are different. Country names with United have the. There are other countries which are exceptions too. So, we say:
the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America
the Bahamas, the Gambia
Seas and oceans, mountain ranges and rivers have the:
the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean
the Andes, the Himalayas, the Alps
the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze
Universities with of in the title also have the:
the University of Cape Town, the University of Delhi, the University of Tokyo
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello Salum Hilali,
With organisations we use either 'the' or no article. It depends on whether the name is perceived as a descriptive name or as a proper noun. For example:
Descriptive names: the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the International Monetary Fund, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent
Proper names: UEFA, CAF, Greenpeace, Medecin Sans Frontiers
Serengeti National Parks would be treated as a descriptive name, so would take 'the'.
Some institutions and places are treated as proper names when they are in acronym form but descriptive names when written in full. For example, we say CAF (no article) but the Confederation of African Football.
Ngorongoro Crater would probably be treated as a proper name, though it is really a question of convention rather than grammatical rule.
As far as people go, it really depends on the context. Without knowing this it's impossible to say.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Lal,
The first one is not correct, but the second is. Very often we use a plural noun ('Elephants are a herbivorous animal.'). You can see a few more examples in our Grammar reference if you're interested.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello bnd,
We use the before abbreviations when we would use it before the full noun phrase. Thus, we say the United Kingdom and the United States, so we also say the UK and the US.
On the other hand, we usually do not use an article before UNIX because the full noun phrase (Uniplexed Information and Computing System) does not usually take an article.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello bnd,
'the' is needed in both gaps.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team