Level: beginner
The definite article the is the most frequent word in English.
We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the listener/reader knows exactly what we are referring to:
- because there is only one:
The Pope is visiting Russia.
The moon is very bright tonight.
Who is the president of France?
This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:
He is the tallest boy in the class.
It is the oldest building in the town.
- because there is only one in that context:
We live in a small house next to the church. (= the church in our village)
Dad, can I borrow the car? (= the car that belongs to our family)
When we stayed at my grandmother’s house, we went to the beach every day. (= the beach near my grandmother’s house)
Look at the boy over there. (= the boy I am pointing at)
- because we have already mentioned it:
A young man got a nasty shock when he tried to rob a jewellery shop in Richmond. The man used a heavy hammer to smash the windows in the shop.
We also use the definite article:
- to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:
The wolf is not really a dangerous animal. (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals.)
The kangaroo is found only in Australia. (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia.)
The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies.)
We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments:
Joe plays the piano really well.
She is learning the guitar.
- to refer to a system or service:
How long does it take on the train?
I heard it on the radio.
You should tell the police.
- The definite article the 1
- The definite article the 2
- The definite article the 3
Level: intermediate
We can also use the definite article with adjectives like rich, poor, elderly and unemployed to talk about groups of people:
Life can be very hard for the poor.
I think the rich should pay more taxes.
She works for a group to help the elderly.
Level: beginner
The definite article with names
We do not normally use the definite article with names:
William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Paris is the capital of France.
Iran is in Asia.
But we do use the definite article with:
- countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:
| the United Kingdom | the Kingdom of Bhutan |
| the United States | the People's Republic of China |
- countries which have plural nouns as their names:
| the Netherlands | the Philippines |
- geographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and canals:
| the Himalayas | the Canaries | the Atlantic (Ocean) | the Amazon | the Panama Canal |
- newspapers:
| The Times | The Washington Post |
- well-known buildings or works of art:
| the Empire State Building | the Taj Mahal | the Mona Lisa |
- organisations:
| the United Nations | the Seamen's Union |
- hotels, pubs and restaurants:
| the Ritz | the Ritz Hotel | the King's Head | the Déjà Vu |
But note that we do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the name of the owner:
| Brown's | Brown's Hotel | Morel's | Morel's Restaurant |
- families:
| the Obamas | the Jacksons |
- The definite article with names 1
- The definite article with names 2
- The definite article with names 3
- The definite article with names 4
Hi LitteBlueGreat,
Yes, that's right. If I say, for example:
I'm making a statement about all wolves, or every wolf.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, Jonathan. I see your sentence use "would" as in "I would add that..." and "your option B would be more common". Could you tell me the use of "would" in your sentence?
Hello Plokonyo,
I'm afraid Jonathan won't be able to reply in the near future, so I thought I'd respond in his stead.
The 'would' in 'I would add that ...' shows that Jonathan is speaking about how he would change LittleBlueGreat's explanation if he (Jonathan) were editing it. So in this sense, it's speaking about a hypothetical situation. Which I know may seem a bit strange because Jonathan is in fact adding to the explanation. The way to understand this is to see it as a way of politely doing this.
In the case of 'your option B would be more common', 'would' again refers to a hypothetical situation: if the context were ordinary conversation, option B would be more common. Jonathan could also have said 'in the context of ordinary conversation, option B is more common', but we often use 'would' to be less direct and thus more polite.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Olga21,
It may be correct - it depends on the context. If, for example, both the speaker and the listener know which film they are talking about then 'the' is fine. Perhaps they've already been talking about it, or perhaps they've just bought a DVD.
If, however, it could be any film then they would say 'a new film'.
Articles are very often context dependent. They signal what is known and shared and what is new.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Indiana,
Yes, these are all correct :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello bella9073,
When we say 'I need to go to the bathroom' we are talking about the physical need, not the room. You could say 'I need to go to the bathroom' in the middle of a field or a forest, for example!
If we want to talk about the room then we would use 'a' or 'the' depending on the situation. Generally, we assume that there is one bathroom, or that it's understood that we mean the nearest bathroom. However, we might say 'Is there a bathroom here?' on a hotel floor, for example, or ask very politely 'Could you tell me where I can find a bathroom, please?'
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again bella9073,
It's common to use 'the' with shops and similar places. Depending on the context, it may mean that the speaker is talking about a specific shop or it may simply mean 'I'm going shopping'. Both of these conversations are possible, for example:
[both speakers understand which shop they are talking about]
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
How about the use of “the” in front of room names at school? Say, “in the English Room”? Or no need for the article there?
Hello Ja71na,
Yes, 'the' is used in this case too, for the same reason as 'the bathroom' that Peter explained above.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Salum Hilali,
Normally, these are without the definite article. But, you could say the airport (without naming it) if it's clear to the listener or reader which airport you mean. :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello cynthia,
We don't use 'rise' in the plural to talk about a single item (computers), so 1 and 4 are not correct.
Sentences 2 and 3 are both possible. We can use both the zero article with a plural noun and the definite article with a singular noun for general meaning:
In certain contexts the a difference can be important, but in your context you can use either form without changing the meaning of the sentence.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Gendeng,
'A second change' here has a similar meaning to 'another change'.
It's normal to say 'the first change' but then talk about 'a second change', 'a third change' etc. I can't explain a logical rule for this; it's simply the convention which has grown up through usage over time.
I think if we said 'the second change' it would imply that we were waiting for a particular change. In other words, we would know which player was going to be replaced and which player was going to come on. It would imply a known plan. A commentator might say this if, for example, a player is injured and his replacement is warming up, so they know that the change is coming and are just waiting for it to happen.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jembut,
The Cambridge Dictionary has a good general explanation of how to use 'at', 'in' and 'on' to speak about a place. When I talk about the website in general, I use 'on' ('There are lots of useful resources on LearnEnglish'), but I think it's also OK to say 'at'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Gendeng,
We can use the definite article in several ways. When you say 'the bus' it could mean a particular bus (Look - the bus is coming!) or it could have a general meaning and refer to the means of transportation (I prefer the bus to the train).
The context tells us if the meaning is general or specific here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Smiley1,
Both versions are correct, and commonly used :)
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Crokong,
A speaker says the shops when the listener knows which shops the speaker is referring to. In your example, the speaker may mean:
We can use the with singular or plural nouns.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Crokong,
Yes :) It should be an indefinite article, the first time you mention the shop.
If you mention the shop again later in the conversation, you can use the definite article (because, after the first mention, the listener now knows which shop you mean).
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Plokonyo,
That's generally the right meaning :) But I've added some information in another comment below about the difference in emphasis between the and this.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Plokonyo,
The noun restaurant needs to have an article. It could be:
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Plokonyo,
It's similar! If you say this, you are indicating this afternoon (not any other afternoon) and this day (not any other day) to the listener, with emphasis.
In the examples you mention, the speaker uses the. It identifies which afternoon/day the speaker means, but without the emphasis that this has. The first change of the afternoon must be the afternoon now/today, and word of the day must be today.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello kosoy007,
It depends on whether 'EU' and 'UK' are acting as noun phrases or as adjectives modifying another noun. For example, 'UK companies' means 'companies in the UK' or 'British companies': the word 'UK' tells us which companies and is acting as an adjective.
In contrast, in 'The UK will still be hoping that the EU issues an "equivalence" decision ...', 'the UK' means 'The United Kingdom' (i.e. the government of the UK) and 'the EU' refers to the government of the EU (in this case, 'issues' is a verb).
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello kosoy007,
It's common to use abbreviations of organisations and states in this way:
You can use European as an adjective, of course, or say the European Union's single market, but I think the EU... is the most common choice in this context. It's really a matter of convention, however, not grammatical or lexis rules.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello IsabelEdwards,
You can say both, though in most situations 'end-of-year ceremony' is probably more common.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Hashemi_Ashka,
You can use the definite article before a noun with a possessive apostrophe. For example:
However, this does not change the normal rules of article use. If the word 'Oke' in your example is a name then no article would be used.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team