The definite article THE
THE is a determiner. We place THE before a noun or adjective.
- before an adjective
- The English drink tea.
- The red ones are beautiful.
- when there is only one of its kind
- The moon is bright tonight.
- The sky is blue.
- to talk about specific objects or people
- The girls who are playing outside are having fun.
- The cups on the table are full.
- to talk about a specific object or person
- The girl who called me yesterday is nice.
- The cup on the table is full.
- before ordinal numbers, superlatives, decades, and centuries
- The first chapter of the book was interesting.
- The second car is blue, the first is green.
- The Beatles became popular in the sixties.
- She is the youngest person in the room.
- This is the 21st century!
- before ONLY (sometimes)
- He was the only person in the room.
- This is the only pen I have.
- There are only three cookies left.
- before Kingdom, Republic, geographical areas, the names of oceans, and the name of countries that have plural names
- The Netherlands are in Europe.
- The Republic of China is not in Europe.
- The Pacific Ocean is large.
- I have not been to the Alps or the Philippines.
- before the names of newspapers, works of art, museums, buildings, and hotels
- I read the Huffington Post and the Wall Street Journal every day.
- I have visited the Louvre.
- The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
- The Hilton is a popular hotel.
- The Mona Lisa is in the Louvre museum.
- to talk about a family as a group
- The Smiths travel every summer.
- The Thomas family lives next door.
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