October 14, 2015
definite article: the
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 hearer/reader knows exactly what we are referring to.
• because there is only one:
The Pope is visiting Russia.
The moon is very bright tonight.
The Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.
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 place or in those surroundings:
| We live in a small village 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 in the blue shirt over there. | = | (the boy I am pointing at) |
• because we have already mentioned it:
A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The woman fell while climbing.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men walking on the peak were killed in a fall.
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.(= Joe can play any piano)
She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any 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.
• With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, 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 disabled.
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 Nepal; 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; 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; the Sunflowers
• organisations:
the United Nations; the Seamen’s Union
• hotels, pubs and restaurants*:
the Ritz; the Ritz Hotel; the King’s Head; the Déjà Vu
*Note: We do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the name of the owner, e.g.,Brown’s; Brown’s Hotel; Morel’s; Morel’s Restaurant, etc.
• families:
the Obamas; the Jacksons
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Comments
Hi teacher
I wanted to know why {A high peak} is not mentioned as similar to (a woman)"
thank you.
A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The woman fell while climbing.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men walking on the peak were killed in a fall.
Hello sonu2850,
'High Peak' is a proper noun, i.e. the name of the mountain that this woman was climbing. 'the' is not used with the names of most mountain peaks.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Kik, that makes sense, but do we have any rule about usage of "the"
Hello sonu2850,
Kirk has explained the article use in the example you provided, and the rules for the usage of 'the' in other examples are on the page above.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, dear English teachers.
which one is grammatically correct?
1. The apple is good for your health. WITH THE AND SINGULAR NOUN
2. The apples are good for your health. WITH THE AND PLURAL NOUN
3. Apple is good for your health. WITH NO DEFINITE ARTICLE
4. an apple is good for your health. WITH AN INDEFINITE ARTICLE
Best Regards
Muh. Arvan Pradiansah
Hi,
Thank you very much for this explanation on definite article. I could not understand use of 'the' in your 2 given egs.
1. Look at the boy in the blue shirt over there. = why there is 'the' with blue shirt?
2. We live in a small village next to the church. = why there is 'the' with church? in this eg. I thought as the village is not known to the listener , so 'a' article is used with village & so if the village was not known to the listener then how come the listener knew church.
Also there is an eg. given in meaning of blue as noun on oxforddictionaries.com:
"All samples are shown at the same magnification, with spindles in green and DNA in blue."= why 'the' is not used with green & blue as they are nouns.
Please help to clarify?
thanks in advance
Regards,
Jayesh
Hi Jayesh_rc,
In your first example, the blue shirt is visible to both the speaker and listener, so it is clear which blue shirt is being referenced. If they could not see the boy then the sentence would be different:
'When you get to the station, look for a boy in a blue shirt.'
In your second example, there is an assumption that the village has only one church. If there were several churches in the village then 'a church' (or 'one of the churches') would be more appropriate.
We don't usually comment on examples from other sites but colours are abstract nouns - they are concepts, after all, rather than physical objects. Therefore the zero article is normal when referring to colours in this way. For example, we say 'My favourite colour is green', not 'a green' or 'the green'.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot Peter for the reply.
Just need further clarification on the first example of the blue shirt.
Suppose here the listener knows about the boy, so can we say:
'When you get to the station, look for 'the' boy in a blue shirt.' (I replaced here 'a' with 'the' as I changed the condition that listener knows the boy)
Please clarify.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Jayesh.
Hello Jayesh,
Yes, that would be fine. It would suggest that both speaker and listener know which boy they are looking for (they have seen the boy before, or have a photo, for example), or that there will be only one boy in a blue shirt there.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you very much Peter!
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