The definite article – the
The definite article – the
The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in the plural.
- the boy
- the girl
- the cat
- the computers
If the following word begins with a consonant, we speak [ðə], if the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [ði:].
| [ðə] | [ði:] |
|---|---|
| the following word starts with a spoken consonantthe girlthe bookthe school | the following word starts with a spoken vowelthe English girlthe orange bookthe old school |
| Compare the following words: | |
| Here [j] is pronounced at the beginning of the word → the unit | Here [ʌ] is pronounced at the beginning of the word → the uncle |
We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.
| without the definite article | with the definite article – the |
|---|---|
| general words (indefinite)Life is too short.I like flowers. | general words (definite)I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.I like the flowers in your garden. |
| names of persons on the singular, relativesPeter and John live in London.Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles. | family names in the pluralThe Smiths live in Chicago. |
| public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite)Mandy doesn't like school.We go to school by bus.Some people go to church on Sundays. | public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite)The school that Mandy goes to is old.The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.The round church in Klingenthal is famous. |
| names of countries in the singular, summits of mountains, continents, townsGermanyFranceMount WhitneyMount McKinleyAfricaEuropeCairoNew York | names of countries in the plural, mountain ranges, regionsthe United States of Americathe Netherlandsthe Highlandsthe Rocky Mountainsthe Alpsthe Middle Eastthe west of Australia |
| single islandsCorfuBermudaSicily | groups of islandsthe Bahamasthe British Islesthe Canaries |
| parks, lakes, streetsCentral ParkHyde ParkLake MichiganLoch Ness42nd StreetOxford Street | names with of-phrase, names in plural, well-known buildings, oceans, seas, rivers, musical instruments, newspapersthe Statue of Libertythe Tower (of London)the Great Lakesthe Empire State Buildingthe Isle of Wightthe Atlantic (Ocean)the Mediterranean (Sea)the Nilethe Rhinethe Suez Canalthe pianothe Times |
| months, days of the week (indefinite)The weekend is over on Monday morning.July and August are the most popular months for holidays. | months, days of the week (definite)I always remember the Monday when I had an accident.The August of 2001 was hot and dry. |
We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.
- in summer
- in the summer
The American English word fall is always used with the definite article the.
Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following example:
- The student goes to school.
- The mother is going to the school.
In the first sentence, we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.
The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different reason. That's why we use the definite article the in the second sentence.