THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

- The definite article is used with countable and uncountable nouns.

RULES

1. With nouns when we are talking about something specific, when a noun is mentioned
for a second time, or is already known.
2. With nouns which are unique: the sun, the moon, the sky, The Eiffel Tower, the Statue
of Liberty, the White House, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids
3. With the names of rivers: the Nile, the Thames, the Danube (river)
4. With the names of seas: the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea
5. With the names of oceans: the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean
6. With the names of canals: the Panama Canal
7. With the mountain ranges: the Pyrenees, the Himalayas, the High Tatras
8. With the names of deserts: the Gobi, the Sahara
9. With a group of islands: the Canary Islands
10. With countries when they include words such as state, kingdom, republic: the USA,
the United Kingdom, the Slovak Republic.
11. With musical instruments (when we play): the piano, the violin
12. With the names of inventions: Who invented the computer?
13. With the names of dances: the tango, the waltz, the salsa
14. With the names of hotels: the Carlton [Hotel]
15. With the names of cinemas/theatres: the Globe [theatre]
16. With the names of ships: the Titanic, the Queen Mary
17. With the names of organisations: the EU, the NATO, the UNESCO
18. With the names of newspapers/magazines: the Times
19. With the names of museums: The Louvre, The British Museum
20. With the names of galleries: The Tate, The Nedbalka
21. With nationality words ending in -ese, -ss, -ch, -sh: the Japanese, the Swiss, the
French, the English [others are optional]
22. With the names of families: the Adams
23. With people and their unique roles in society: in the army, the police
 24. With titles when the name of the person is not mentioned: the Queen, the King, the
Duchess of Cambridge, The Prince of Wales BUT Queen Elizabeth II., Prince William
25. With the parts of a day: morning, afternoon, evening
26. With the words: station, shop, pub, library, city, and village: She went to the station.
27. With historical periods/events: the Stone Age, the Middle Age, the First World War
BUT World War TWO
28. With the words: only, last [used as adjectives]: He was the last person to arrive.
29. With adjectives and adverbs in the superlative form: She is the most intelligent
woman.
30. With names/nouns with “of”: the history of England, the north of Italy
31. With nouns to talk about a specific time or place: That was the Christmas before you
were born. The prison is a big red building.
32. Always with “same”: Your sweater is the same colour as mine.
33. Always with “Internet”: The Internet has changed the way we live.
34. We use the + adjective to refer to a group of people: the poor [chudobní – kto? Čo?],
the sick, the unemployed, the homeless, the disabled, the mentally ill.
35. When we mean a specific type of something: The giraffe is the tallest of all animals.
[we don’t mean one specific thing, we mean one specific type of animal]

NOTE

a) the TV – we mean a television set: Turn off the television.

b) TV – I watch TV.
a) The radio – I listen to the radio.
b) Music – I listen to music.

Indefinite article versus Definite article

Indefinite article Definite article

to classify people or things:
 She is a teacher. [job].
to mention something for the first time.
 We have read a story about a man.
to identify people or things:
 Ask the teacher!
already known/mentioned for the 2nd time:
 Do you remember the story about the
man?