THE USAGE OF THE

DEFINITE ARTICLE
THE
article noun/noun phrase
 SINGULAR nouns
DEFINITE article +
PLURAL nouns
COUNTABLE nouns
UNCOUNTABLE
nouns
 To make definite or specific reference
to a person or a thing that has
already been referred to.

There’s the man I was telling you about!

 To refer to a person or thing that
is already specific because of what
those talking already know.

Let’s take the children to the swimming pool.

 To generalize about a whole class or
species, usually of plants or animals.
A singular noun is used for this purpose.

The elephant is still hunted for its tusks.

 When it is followed by an adjective
used as a noun indicating nationality or
When generalizing about a whole class of people.

The Dutch are very skillful engineers.

The poor were crowding the streets of the capital.
Before the names of rivers, groups of islands,
seas, oceans, and mountain ranges.

The Thames
The Philippines
The North Sea
The Pacific Ocean
The Alps
Before the names of certain public institutions,
most newspapers, and some magazines.

The British Museum

The New York Times
The Rolling Stones Magazine
Before parts of the body when these are
referred to in an impersonal way.

A stone struck him on the hand.

 Proper nouns that refer to people
and proper nouns used in conjunction
with titles only take a definite article if
they stand for the name of a thing.

The Queen Elizabeth II is on a long cruise.

 If a distinction is being made
between people who have identical names,
giving emphasis to the noun.

Ah, no. The David Parry I know lives in Manchester.

 We usually leave out the determiner
when we use a noun or a noun phrase
in the plural to make a generalization.

He sells cars for a living.
Tigers are nearing extinction.
Onions are good for you.
Grassy hills rise on all sides of the town.
Singular nouns that are uncountable
are used without a determiner when
you are making a general reference.

New information is now available.

Do you like jelly?
This shop sells furniture.
 They can be used with a determiner
when the reference becomes specific.

The information she gave me was inaccurate.

Would you like some of the jelly I made for mom?
We don’t let the dog climb onto the furniture.
There are a number of idiomatic expressions
that usually omit a determiner.
Examples are expressions that refer to travel,
when you proceed by:
bicycle, car, bus, train, ship, boat, plane.

Anna went by bicycle but Lucy went by car.

 Examples are expressions that refer to
time with the prepositions at, before,
or by, dawn, sunrise, sunset, noon, midnight,
night, supper, dinner, day, night.

Catherine rose at dawn and went to bed at sunset.

We swam in the pool by day and partied by night.
Meals: to have breakfast, tea, lunch.

Jane had breakfast at home.

She met Diana for lunch.
 Institutions, with the prepositions
to or at: church, hospital, prison, school, work.

John was taken to hospital with a broken ankle.

Lucy has been kept late at school today.
Ruth was at home all day.
Seasons of the year, when you are generalizing

In autumn, the grapes are harvested by hand.

The place is packed in summer.
 However, all of these words are used
with the definite article when you are talking
about a specific time, place, season, etc.

Philip travelled by the same train as Mary.

Just look at the wonderful sunset.
Pam works at the hospital.
I can’t work well in the summer.
Do you remember my sister Emma? ________ one who has always been afraid of _______ spiders. She’s been
studying _______ architecture at _______ university for _______ last three years. At _______ moment she’s
researching into _______ work of Le Corbusier. Don’t you know him? He’s _______ well-known French
architect. She’s pretty busy in _______ daytime, but she finds she’s at _______ bit of _______ lose end at night,
so _______ last year she joined _______ film club. _______ club members can watch _______ films at _______
very low prices, in _______ disused warehouse on _______ other side of _______ town. So when she gets home
from _______ college, she usually goes straight over there by _______ bike, and has _______ drink and _______
sandwich before _______ film starts. One evening she was in such _______ hurry to get there that she had
_______ accident. She was knocked down by _______ car and had to spend two weeks in _______ hospital.
When I went to visit her, I was shocked to find her swathed in _______ bandages from _______ head to _______
toe. But luckily her injuries looked worse than they really were, and she managed to make _______ speedy
recovery.