The definite article, typical cases of usage

—   Hello, guys! My name is Martin.

—   And my name is James.

—   Lee is also with us today.

—   Welcome to our grammar lesson!

—   Today we would like to tell you one story. It’s connected to Lee’s new hobby.

—   I watched a television program three months ago. It was about magic tricks.

—   After that Lee got interested in how to make such tricks.

—   He tried to find any books about magic tricks, but he couldn’t.

—   I asked Martin and James to help me in my situation.

—   We advised Lee to visit the website “www. magiciantricks.com”.

—   Two weeks ago, I visited this website and found the information I need. It was very useful, but two sentences drew my attention. The author of the article made so many mistakes in them.

—   Lee showed us this article yesterday.

—   And we’ve decided to show it to you.

—   Take a look at this article, please!

Now let’s read the sentences which contain mistakes.

“A levitation and movement are completely under your control – you can choose to perform a trick quickly or slowly. After a card reaches your other hand, you grab it.”

We need to use the definite article “the” instead of the indefinite article “a”.

—   Do you know why we used the definite article instead of the indefinite?

—   If you don’t know, please, don’t worry. We will tell you everything in detail in a few minutes.

—   We think that it’s not good when the authors of the famous websites make such mistakes.

—   Yeah! I agree! Pupils can read the information.

—   We can’t let that happen!

—   After we explain the rule to you, we will write to the author and ask him to correct all the mistakes.

As you can understand, today in the lesson we will:

·        talk about the typical cases of usage of the definite article;

And

·         put the knowledge into practice.

—   Let’s start our lesson.

—   First of all, we will revise the definition of the term “articles”.

—   After that we will talk about the types of articles.

Articles are the words that define a noun as specific or unspecific.

There are two types of articles: definite and indefinite.

The definite article is the word the.

For example: the forest, the jungle.

The indefinite article has two forms: a and an.

For example: a flower, an animal.

—   We’ve told you about the types of articles.

—   But as we have already said, today we will talk about the definite article “the” in detail.

—   Martin, Lee and I will tell you about the typical cases of usage of the definite article.

We use “the” with singular, plural and uncountable nouns. 

The definite article can be pronounced in two different ways:

[ðə] – if it comes before a consonant sound.

For example:

The [ðə] dog is really angry.

Or

The [ðə] girl was so beautiful.

And

[ði:] – if it comes before a vowel sound.

For example:

The [ði:] apple was so delicious.

Or

Alex opened the [ði:] envelope and pulled out a letter.

Now let’s discuss when we can use the definite article “the”.

1. We use the article “the” when a particular noun has already been mentioned previously.

For instance:

George has a wonderful garden. The garden contains different species of trees and flowers.

Or

I saw a boy yesterday. The boy looked like Harry Potter.

2. The definite article is used with nouns that we mention for the first time, but when it’s clear which person or thing we are talking about.

For instance:

Marry, can you pass me the sugar, please?

Or

Oh, it’s really cold. Bobby, could you close the door, please!

3. “The” can be used with nouns followed by a descriptive phrase, which makes them definite. In this case we can use the following words: all, the whole, the same, the right, the left, the wrong, the very, the only, the best, the main, the following, the opposite, etc.

Let’s compare the following sentences:

1. This is a photograph.

And

2. This is the photograph I told you about.

(As you can see, we used the definite article “the” in the second sentence, because it contains a descriptive phrase).

4. The definite article “the” is used when the noun refers to something or someone that is unique.

Look at the following examples:

Megan was lying on the beach, looking at the sky.

Daddy, how can it be so cold when the sun is shining?

Everybody knows that the moon is made of cheese.

The exception is the word “space”.

For instance:

to go to space, to be in space.

5. We can also use the article “the” to talk about groups of people. In this case we can use such words as: rich, poor, unemployed, disabled, etc.

For example:

Unfortunately, those who suffer most are the poor.

Or

The rich can buy everything they want.

6. The definite article can be used to talk about national groups.

For instance:

When the Chinese eat, they chew everything very slowly and carefully.

Or

The British enjoy drinking tea.

7. It’s necessary to use “the” when we talk about nouns which represent a class.

For example:

The cat is considered to be a domestic animal.

Or

The bear is a wild animal.

8. The definite article “the” can be used with names of musical instruments.

For example:

Hillary can play the saxophone, but she can’t play the violin.

Or

Robert enjoys playing the drums.

9. We need to use “the” with nouns which are the adverbial modifiers of place. They usually stand after the predicate or after the object.

For instance:

My mum is in the kitchen right now.

Or

My grandparents are in the cottage at this moment.

10. We use the definite article with superlative adjectives.

For example:

This is the worst book I’ve ever read.

Or

Jillian, you are the best woman in the whole world!

11. It’s necessary to use “the” when we want to refer to a system or service.

For instance:

Mike, you need to tell the police about this incident.

Or

Kyle, I heard this news on the radio yesterday.

12. We need to use the definite article with the names of families, but not with the names of individuals.

For example:

Let’s go to the Smiths and have lunch with them.

Or

The Mills are going on a trip with us.

—   We’ve told you about the typical cases of usage of the definite article “the”.

—   Now let’s put the knowledge into practice.

Read the short stories below. Pay attention to the underlined sentences. Explain why we used the definite article “the” in them.

1. Yesterday my mum and I went to the grocery store. There we met a woman. The woman looked so unhappy and lonely.

Check yourselves.

We used the definite article “the”, because we have already mentioned this woman in the previous sentence.

2. Oh my God, it's so stuffy in here. I can’t even breathe. Tyler, could you open the window, please?

Let’s check.

In this sentence we’ve mentioned the window for the first time, but it’s clear which window we are talking about. That’s why we used the article “the”.

3. Last summer my parents went on a trip to Egypt. The sun was shining so bright and the weather was so warm there.

Let’s check the right answer.

We used the article “the” with the word “sun”, because this word is unique. There is only one sun in the universe.

4. James, meet Miranda, please! This is the girl I told you about. I want to marry her in June.

Check yourselves.

The definite article “the” is used in this sentence, because we have a descriptive phrase.

5. Tom and Rick went to the cinema yesterday. They watched the film “Fantastic day”. It was the worst film they had ever seen.

Let’s check.

Here we have a superlative adjective, that’s why we used the article “the”.

6. Last week Robert and I went to the concert. We really liked the performance of one young lady. She was playing the piano so splendidly.

Let’s check the right answer.

We used the definite article here, because it’s necessary to use “the” with musical instruments.

—   Guys, now you know when we can use the definite article “the”.

—   We hope you understood all the information.

—   That’s all for today, our dear friends.

—   See you soon.