Articles: 'the' or no article

Articles: 'the' or no article

Do you know when you need to use the in common phrases and place names? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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

Articles 2: 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

Articles 2: Grammar test 2

Average: 4.1 (81 votes)

Your responses are really a big help for me, Sir! :)
1.Scientists have recently discovered two new species of plant.
2. Scientists have recently discovered two new species of plants.
I really wanted to know if the two sentences are exactly the same in meaning.
I really appreciate it!
Best Wishes!

Hi Sokhom,

As Kirk mentioned, both sentences could mean a single plant or more than one plant, so yes, they have the same meaning in that sense. So, as you can see, their meanings overlap a lot.

For your question about whether they have EXACTLY the same meaning, that's more difficult to say. I think it's important to remember that in real life, sentences are said or written in a context (even though for learning, we often study the sentence by itself). The context is important for interpreting the exact meaning. So, part of the meaning comes from our interpretation of the sentence in its context, and it cannot be understood by looking at the sentence alone. In summary, the exact meaning of these two sentences may be the same or different (i.e. refer to one plant or many) - depending on the contexts in which they are used.

I hope that helps :)

Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Andrew22 on Tue, 27/04/2021 - 01:25

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hello, I used "the" with university of Nottingham in grammar test 2 but it was wrong. Could anyone explain why I was wrong? Please
Profile picture for user Jonathan R

Submitted by Jonathan R on Tue, 27/04/2021 - 03:46

In reply to by Andrew22

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Hi Andrew22,

It's the right word, but it needs a capital 'T' as it's the first word in the sentence :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Sameer Mankoo on Tue, 20/04/2021 - 14:42

Permalink
Why we used 'the' with bahamas? 5. She was born in Japan, but she went to '0' university in ' the ' Bahamas.

Hi Sameer Mankoo,

It's because it's a group of islands. We often use 'the' with groups of islands, e.g. the Bahamas, the Maldivesthe Philippines, the Channel Islands.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, Jonathan R,
I just wanted to ask why we don't use the before Japan as Japan is also a group of islands,I also understand we can say the Japanese archipelago.

Kalden

Hi Kalden,
Good question. It's simply because that group of islands has come to be called Japan, rather than any other name. Although we often use 'the' and a plural noun to name groups of islands, this is a pattern of usage rather than a universal rule (i.e., it's often true but not always true). The name for a place may be decided by many different factors (e.g., political, historical) as well as geographical ones.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team