The Definite Article

This lesson is on the definite article there’s only one definite article namely the this is used to identify a specific person place or thing we also use there to refer to specific plural nouns.

and we use the with superlatives we changed the pronunciation of the four words to start with vowel sounds let’s look at some examples we use the verb to refer to something which has already been mentioned and we mean that specific one there’s a new position at work the job will involve some overtime.

so referring to a new position at work and that job refers to that one that job the new position yesterday an armed man dropped the shop.

The thief has been caught so the thief is the armed man in the previous sentence and we use that when we assume there is just one of something there even if it’s not already been mentioned shall we go for a walk in the woods later.

Now in this case we’re assuming that you’re not surrounded by dozens of woods there’s only really one you can go for a walk in our house is opposite the library.

Again we would expect just to be one library and that’s the one we mean and we use that to identify a specific person or object.

This is the nurse who gave me my medicine not any old nurse but this one business we live in the house at the end of the street though the House and the street.

This specific house this specific street we use the to identify unique people or objects that the sun rises in the east is only one sun in our solar system anyway.

It’s a beautiful day there isn’t a cloud in the sky again and just one sky up there.

That’s why it’s referred to uniquely as the sky we use that before superlatives.

Peter is the best swimmer in his class.

There’s only one best swimmer so it’s the best swimmer Nanna is the oldest person in our family again only one oldest person and this is her only use the when we talk about ordinal numbers Ian passed his driving test on the second try.

This is the first time I’ve been to China.

There are lessons on superlatives and there are lessons on ordinal numbers so please feel free to check those out if you need just to brush up on those we use there with adjectives to refer to a whole group of people.

The French are famous for wine and cheese.

There are many special care homes for the elderly and we use them with decades.

There are some dreadful fashion mistakes in the 70s his parents were born in the 60s

we’ll see is though with proper names of things like geographical areas rivers mountain ranges islands oceans etc.

Our cruise down the Nile was most enjoyable and the River Nile in this case did Hannibal really crossed the Alps with elephants.

It is now possible to fly across the Atlantic in only a few hours our neighbors went to the Canary Islands on holiday you’ll see is the one we’re referring to famous buildings and works of art museums or monuments the Mona Lisa is on display at the Louvre.

Again we have two examples here.

Mona Lisa is a well-known work of art.

The Louv is the building and it’s on display in the Washington Monument is a novelist on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

He is the one we’re talking about hotels restaurants and pubs but we go into the Queen’s Arms after work.

You want to join us in Queen’s arm is presumably a pub and that’s where they’re going after work.

It’s across the road from the Holiday Inn that’s describing where the pub is and we’d change the pronunciation if the word after there starts with a vowel sound though for instance we wouldn’t say the elephant.

It’s a little bit awkward there and then an elephant.

So we say the elephant although we still write it with one e we speak it as if it had to.

Again this case not the elephant but the elephant.

It just makes it flow easier.

The orange BSM s

but the unicorn because although the word unicorn starts with a vowel it doesn’t have a vowel sound but we have the unicorn but the S M S because although S M S starts with a consonant has a vowel sound.