The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.
the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers
If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak, if the following word begins with a consonant, we speak.
|
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the following word starts with a spoken consonant | the following word starts with a spoken vowel |
the girl | the English girl |
the book | the blue book |
the school | the old school |
the unit
| the uncle
|
We have listed some examples in the following words. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.
without the definite article | with the definite article |
general words (indefinite) | general words (definite) |
Life is too short.
| I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.
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names of persons on the singular, relatives | family names in the plural |
Peter and John live in London.
| The Smiths live in Chicago. |
public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite) | public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite) |
Mandy doesn't like school.
| The school that Mandy goes to is old.
|
names of countries in the singular; summits of mountains; continents; towns | names of countries in the plural; mountain ranges; regions |
Germany, France;
| the United States of America, the Netherlands; the Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; the Middle East, the west of Australia |
single islands | groups of islands |
Corfu, Bermuda, Sicily | the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries |
parks; lakes; streets | name with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers |
Central Park, Hyde Park;
| the Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), the Isle of Wight;
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months, days of the week (indefinite) | months, days of the week (definite) |
The weekend is over on Monday morning.
| I always remember the Monday when I had an accident.
|
We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.
in summer or in the summer
The American English word for autumn >fall<
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 goes 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 in the second sentence.
~hoping that you all understand this and any comments and suggestions, you can post it…I’ll appreciate that very2 much..>0<
heeee....leave some comments ya...!!!!
ReplyDeleteSalam eka..useful blog you have! akak myself can revise my english words usage just from reading your blog...nice la.
ReplyDeletereally kak???that's really great....I'll try 2 insert many more exercises in the future...=)
ReplyDeleteme too..espicially the geographical usage of 'the'
ReplyDeleteit's vry helpfull.. ^^.
thanks 4 that comment ma'wa...i'll gain more info 4 u ya..!!!>o<
ReplyDelete