The definite article: In many languages there are several definite articles in others there are none! English has one definite article the. /ðə/ The only problem with the definite article is that there are no grammatical reasons of when it is supposed to be used. There are, however, indications of when it is used and when it is not used. It is placed in front of both singular and plural nouns and is the same for all genders. Note: theis historically a form of the demonstrative adjectives that and those hence it is used for both singular and plural forms. /ðə/ The pen (singular) /ðə/ The pens (plural) The pronunciation of the article changes when the noun, adjective etc, that follows begins with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) and is pronounced /ðiː/ /ðiː/ The apple /ðiː/ The apples We use THE: The second time we talk about something, or when it is clear which thing or person we are talking about: e.g. In that house there is a table. This is the first time we mention a table. That house uses the demostrative so it it is clear which house. e.g. On the table there is a pen. This is the second time we mention the table but the first time we mention a pen. e.g. Near the pen on the table there is a telephone... The article The is not used when we speak in general e.g. Documentaries are interesting = which documentary? Documentaries in general. However, the article is used when the noun is determined. e.g. The documentary was interesting = which documentary? The one (the documentary) we saw yesterday. WITH and WITHOUT THE ARTICLE? This is the question: WITH ARTICLE: Groups: e.g. The police; the English; the Japanese; the Italians; the crowd; the elderly; the rich and the poor Geographical features; WITH ARTICLE: Points on the globe: e.g. The North pole; the South pole; the Equator Geographical areas: e.g. the Middle East; the West; the East Groups of islands: e.g. the Bahamas; the British Isles; the Canaries NO ARTICLE: Single islands: e.g. Corfu, Bermuda, Sicily, Cyprus WITH ARTICLE: Unions, Kingdoms, Republics: e.g. the United Kingdom; the kingdom of Nepal; the United States of America; the People’s Republic of China. and countries which have plural names: e.g. the Netherlands; the Philippines; the Indies Mountain ranges: e.g. the Alps; the Andes; the Himalayas; the Rocky Mountains; the Apennines; the Zagros; the Urals; the Kunlun mountains but NO ARTICLE with Singular mountains: e.g. Mount Everest; Ben Nevis; Mount Kilimanjaro WITH ARTICLE: Rivers, seas, oceans, straits, gulfs, canals, deserts and some forests e.g. the Atlantic Ocean; the Pacific Ocean; the Indian Ocean; e.g. the Mediterranean Sea; the Red Sea; the Black Sea; the Arabian Sea; the North sea e.g. the English channel; the Panama Canal; e.g. the River Nile; the Detroit river; the mississippi; e.g. the Bering Strait; the Strait of Malacca; the Strait of Hormuz; Strait of Gibraltar e.g. the Persian gulf; the Gulf of Mexico e.g. the Sahara desert, the Arabian Desert; the Gobi Desert e.g. the Black Forest, the Amazon rain forest but not with Sherwood Forest NO ARTICLE: with singular lakes: e.g. Lake Como; Loch Ness; Lake Baikal; Lake Tanganyika; Lake Constance And not with countries, cities and continents: e.g. Australia; New Zealand; England; Japan; China; Russia e.g. London; Berlin; New York; Paris e.g. Asia; Africa; India And again NO ARTICLE with: Languages: e.g. French; English; Italian; Japanese; Arabic Time: e.g. at 7 o’clock; at five past eight Days of the week: e.g. Sunday; Monday (on) Years: e.g. 1968 (in) but in decades and centuries: e.g. the seventies; the thirteen hundreds (1300s) Titles: e.g. Mr Bolton; Doctor Johnson nor with names: e.g. John; Ian; Sean; Mary; Julie with nouns which indicate one of a kind: e.g. the Earth; the Sun; the Moon; the Queen; the Prime Minister; … the one and only... the beginning and the end this is also why we use it with superlatives and ordinal numbers: e.g. the most; the biggest; the best; the first; the tenth; the last NO ARTICLE: With Topics: e.g. pollution; teaching; jogging; smoking; writing; speaking; music; politics NO ARTICLE: When the noun is followed by a number: e.g. flat No. 5; room 305; player No 11; boat No 7 come in; your time is up! NO ARTICLE: With Meals: e.g. breakfast; lunch; dinner NO ARTICLE: with Next / Last: e.g. last Sunday; next Sunday; next summer; last winter; next week; last weekend; next Monday; last Friday THE: with parts of the day: e.g. (in) the morning; (in) the afternoon; (in) the evening but not (at) night THE: with weather: e.g. the Sun; the rain; the wind; the snow; the cold; the heat NO ARTICLE: With Sports: e.g. Basketball; tennis; cricket; hockey; rugby NO ARTICLE: With Academic Subjects: e.g. history; economics; linguistics; chemistry; biology NO ARTICLE: With many common Places: e.g. (to go to) work; school; university; hospital; bed; church THE: With other less common places: e.g. (to go to) the cinema; the office; the doctors; the bank; the dentist; the station; the airport; the city centre. THE: With ‘The... of…: e.g. the tower of London; the North of England; the South of Italy NO ARTICLE: With Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern: e.g. Eastern Europe; Southern France NO ARTICLE: With Street names: e.g. Downing Street; Abbey Road; Wall street; 5th avenue NO ARTICLE: With Name + Airport, Station, University, Castle: e.g. Windsor Castle; Heathrow Airport; Victoria Station; Oxford University THE: With Name + Hotel, Restaurant, Pub, Cinema, Theatre, Museum: e.g. the Hilton Hotel; the Red Bull; the Odeon Cinema; the Empire theatre; the British museum. THE: With Musical Instruments, but not with Music: e.g. the guitar; the saxophone; rock music; classical music If you have understood something here, well done! Because I didnt! PLEASE SHARE OR COMMENT WITH EXAMPLES IF YOU LIKED The Definite Article
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:49:55 +0000
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