The definite article and its usage in the English language

1. Definite Article
- “the”

2. “The” as an Article
• Articles are considered a type of adjectives, because they
modify nouns, and more specifically as determiners due to
their function to show the reference of the noun or noun
phrase in a given context.
• There are 2 types of articles in the English language: the
indefinite article a/an, and the definite article the.
• The occasion when no article is required in a noun phrase is
called zero article.
• The articles are words that never change their form.
• Pronunciation of the: In its normal use, the definite article is
always written the, but pronounced /ðə/ before consonants
and /ðɪ/ before vowels.
The /ðə/ boy, usage, hole
The /ðɪ/ airplane, undertaker, hour, heir

3. The is used in the following
cases:
When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be
unique (there is only one of them or one set of them):
• the Earth, the sun, the world, the atmosphere, the sky, the
equator, the human race, the environment, the industry,
the ground, the air
• BUT! If we want to describe a particular instance of these we can
use the indefinite article, for example:
• I saw a plane up in the sky.
• When I woke up there was a bright blue sky.
Before a noun which has become definite by being previously mentioned
• He struck a tree with his car. The tree fell on the car. (That
particular tree fell on that particular car.)

4. Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause:
• The girl in blue; The man with the banner;
• The boy that I met; The place where I met him
With nouns referring to something specific ( the hearer knows
who/what the speaker is talking about)
• Close the window! (The one in this room)
• The doctor told me to rest. (The person is talking about his/her
doctor)
• Similarly: the postman (the one who comes to us), the car (our
car), the newspaper (the one we always read).
The is used in the following
cases:

5. Adjectives and Adverbs
With adjectives/adverbs in the superlative form
• The tallest man alive; The most interesting book; She did
the best she can.
• BUT when most is followed by a noun, it doesn’t take the.
(Most people enjoy hiking)
• There is an idiomatic function in connection with this: The
sooner the better; The bigger they come the harder they
fall; The more the merrier;
With last and only, and first, second, third, etc.
• She was the only one who came.
• The first song on their album is A Beautiful Day.

6. General reference to
certain groups
The + singular noun can represent the whole class of animals or
things which the noun belongs to:
• The whale is in danger of becoming extinct. (All the whales)
• The dishwasher has made life easier for housewives. (Every
kind of dishwasher)
• But man, used to represent the human race, has no article:
If oil supplies run out, man may have to fall back on the
horse.
The + adjective represents a class of people
• the elderly the sick the poor the rich

7. Other usages of the
We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical
instruments in a general context:
• Joe plays the piano really well.(= George can play any piano)
• She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any
guitar)
With the names of dances
• the Salsa, the Tango, the Polka

8. Other usages of the
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.
With the words day, morning, afternoon and evening used
in adverbial phrases
• They left early in the morning.
• BUT: at night, at noon, at midnight, by day/night
• They left at night.

9. Other usages of the
With the names of newspapers (the Guardian), cinemas (the
Odeon), theatres (the Broadway), museums/art galleries (the
Louvre), ships (the Titanic), organisations (the United Nations)
With institutions (school, prison, hospital, university) when not
referring to the reason for which they exist
• She went to the prison to visit her husband; He was in prison
for robbing a bank.
• John went to the school to pick up his daughter.

10. With some proper nouns
It is also used before names of choirs, orchestras, pop groups
etc.:
• the Bach Choir, the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beatles, the
Rolling Stones
The + plural surname can be used to mean 'the . . . family': The
Smiths, The Clintons, The Obamas
• the Smiths = Mr. and Mrs. Smith (and children)
The + singular name can be used to distinguish one person from
another of the same name:
• Which John do you want? We have two working here.
- I want the John who signed this letter.

11. With titles and nationalities
The is used with titles
• the Queen, the Pope, the President
• BUT not with titles including a proper name (Queen Elizabeth,
Pope Francis, President Obama)
With the names of nationalities ending in –sh, - ch, or –ese;
other nationalities can be used with or without the
• the French, the Irish, the Portuguese, the Macedonians

12. Geographical use of the
In front of names of rivers, seas, oceans, groups of islands and
canals
• the Thames, the Nile, the North Sea, the Atlantic, the
Bermudas, the Panama Canal
Before the names of mountain ranges and desserts
• the Alps, the Sahara
With the names of countries that are in the plural or include
words such as Kingdom or Republic
• the United States of America, the Netherlands, the
Philippines, the Republic of Macedonia, the United Kingdom

13. Geographical use of the
The is used before the adjectives east/west etc. + noun in
certain geographical names:
• the East/West End, the East/West Indies, the North/South
Pole
• But is normally omitted: South Africa, North America, West
Germany
The is used before east/west etc. when these are nouns:
• the north of Spain (geographical)
• the Middle East, the West (political)
• Compare: Go north! (adverb: in a northerly direction) with He
lives in the north. (noun: an area in the north).

14. Some trivia
The is the most commonly used word in the English
language
In an attempt to seem quaint or old-fashioned, many
store signs such as "Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe" use
spellings that are no longer current. The word ye in such
signs looks identical to the archaic second plural
pronoun ye, but it is in fact not the same word. Ye in "Ye
Olde Coffee Shoppe" is just an older spelling of the
definite article the. The y in this ye was never
pronounced (y) but was rather the result of improvisation
by early printers. In Old English and early Middle English,
the sound (th) was represented by the letter thorn (þ).
When printing presses were first set up in England in the
1470s, the type and the typesetters all came from
Continental Europe, where this letter was not in use. The
letter y was used instead because in the handwriting of
the day the thorn was very similar to y.