Definite Article - the
determiners
There are two ways to pronounce "the": "thuh" and "thee". To learn how to pronounce them see the pronunciation files: How to pronounce "the".
You use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.
For example: |
"She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen." |
We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.
For example: |
the North Pole, the equator |
We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas
For example: |
the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel |
We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.
For example: |
the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc.. |
However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.
For example: |
"I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing." "What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her." |
The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation whether or not it preceeds a vowel:
For example: |
"Harry's Bar is the place to go." "You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?" |
!Note - The doesn't mean all:-
For example: |
"The books are expensive." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.) "Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.) |