5th Class English Articles Definite Article

       Definite Article 'The'

A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones), identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may besomething uniquely specified. The definite article in English, for both singular and plural nouns, is 'the'.      

            Use of Definite Article

1.       We use the when we know that the listener knows or can work out the particular person/thing we are talking about.

         For example : "The apple you ate was rotten." "Did you lock the car?"

2.       We also use the when we have already mentioned the thing we are talking about.

         For example : "She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."

3.       We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.

         For example : The North Pole, the Equator

4.       We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas.

         For example : The Nile, the Pacific, the English channel

5.       We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular kind.

         For example : The rain, the Sun, the wind, the world, the Earth, the White House, etc.

          However if we want to describe a particular instance of these we 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."

6.       The is also used to say that a particular thing being mentioned is the best, the most famous, etc.                   

           For example : "Chandni's Bar is the place to go." "You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?"  

           Some other Uses of Definite Article

The is also used before the following:

•   A class of noun. e.g. The dog is a faithful animal.
•   The Superlative Degrees of Adjective. e.g. The best.
•   A noun which was already mentioned earlier.
•   Eg.- Ashoka was a king. He was the great king.
•   The names of famous buildings-The Red Fort.
•   The names of sea, river or valley. E.g. the Pacific, the Ganga, the Bay of Bengal.
•   The names of few countries. - The U.S.A., The UK
•   The names of religious books - The Bible, The Ramayana, The Gita
•   The names of heavenly bodies: The Sun
•   The names of mountains and peaks: The Alps, the Mt. Everest
•   The names of plain, plateau, deserts: The northern plain, the deccan plateau, the Thar desert.