Please, learn the rules! When do we use “THE” in English? (+ when DON’T we?)

- Hello, lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Today we are going to completely cover a notorious three_letter word: the.

I'm going to show you the 17 situations in which you do use the and the seven situations

where you do not, where you never use the.

I'm going to tell you whether you should use the pronunciation or the pronunciation.

Some of this might surprise you, so pay attention, and we'll also discuss all of the exceptions.

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Let's get started.

I always like to start with pronunciation because once you have bad pronunciation habits,

they're really hard to unlearn, to break.

It's better to start correctly from the very beginning.

So there are two ways to pronounce this word.

The first way is the, the, which is probably what you're more familiar with.

This uses the schwa sound, uh, the.

And we use this one when the following word, the word that comes after it starts with a

consonant sound.

For example, the church, the trailer.

The second way to pronounce it is the, the.

We use the when the word that follows starts with a vowel sound.

The intern, the entertainer.

We also use it for emphasis.

That was the best meal I've had in my life.

You are the greatest.

You will also sometimes hear native speakers make a bit of a mistake.

They will say the before a consonant sound, and they often do this when they're still

thinking about what comes next.

I will have the salmon, please.

One of the reasons for this is that it's more comfortable to say the with our mouth slightly

shut than it is to say the with our mouth open.

Okay, now that we've got pronunciation sorted, let's do a quick review of why we use the

word the in the first place and you might be surprised to know that it is the most used

word in the English language.

Notice how I said the most for emphasis.

That's because it's our definite article.

Let's look at a few of the basic rules for using it.

We use it to talk about a noun that has already been discussed, and is now known to the reader

or listener.

For example, I just got a new sofa.

The sofa's blue.

We also use it to refer to a specific noun, often used with a qualifier.

For example, don't put your phone on the broken table, not just any table, the broken table.

Broken there is the qualifier.

We also use it to identify a unique noun when there is only one.

The sun is out today.

There is only one sun, as far as we know.

It's important to know that we can use the word the with both countable and uncountable

nouns.

Countable nouns are nouns that you can physically count, like pencils or cars.

Uncountable nouns are things that cannot be counted, like bread.

I can't say I'll have two bread, two breads.

I'll say I have two loaves of bread or slices of bread.

Coffee, soap and maths are other examples.

So those are the ways you're probably familiar with but we need to get into the specifics,

the nitty gritty so that you can truly master this word.

Okay, let's look a bit more deeply with more depth on how to use the.

Firstly, number one, we use the before superlative adjectives and adverbs.

We had the best time yesterday.

This has to be the slowest taxi in town.

Number two, we use it with clauses and noun phrases introduced by only.

My aunt is the only person I trust.

Is this the only bowl you have?

Notice that because only begins with a vowel sound, we say the, the only.

Number three, with plural country names, typically ending in S. Have you been to the Netherlands?

Or the beaches in The Bahamas are incredible.

Four, we use it before country names that include Republic, Kingdom, Union or State.

She is currently in the Dominican Republic or where should I go in the United States?

Notice, I don't say the United States, the United States.

Even though United begins with a vowel, when it's spelt, we pronounce it with a ya sound

so it's not a vowel sound.

Number five, we use it with ordinal numbers used as qualifiers.

For example, this is the second time she's been late or you are the fifth doctor I've

talked to about this.

Number six, before compass directions, north, south, east and west, and we're talking about

specific areas of a town or a city or a country, not just north in general.

For example, I've never been to the north of France.

If I were to say I've never been north of France, it would mean that I have never visited

any country that is more northern than France itself.

Another example, the south is quite warm this time of year.

Number seven, we use the to refer to geographical locations.

She was born in the Middle East.

The best coffee grows near the equator.

We also use it to talk about, number eight, certain geographical features like oceans,

the Pacific Ocean, seas, the Baltic Sea, rivers, the River Nile, canals, the Panama Canal,

mountain ranges, the Himalayas, deserts, the Gobi Desert, gulfs, the Gulf of Mexico, forests,

the Amazon Rainforest and peninsulas, the Iberian Peninsula.

Number nine, we use the before famous buildings and well-known works of art.

Did you go to Paris just to see the Eiffel Tower?

I should have seen the Mona Lisa.

Number 10, we use the with adjectives that refer to specific groups of people.

There have been recent calls to tax the rich.

The rich is a very specific group of people.

Or the Spanish settled here in 1695.

Number 11, we used the before family names when referred to as a group.

The McAllisters moved last year.

We had dinner with the Smiths last night.

Number 12, we use the with specific times.

We will celebrate Leo's birthday on the 25th.

Or can you come in the morning?

13, we use it to talk about time periods.

My great-grandmother was born in the 1800s.

Or I wish I had lived in the 16th century.

14, we use it to say something about all things referred to by a singular countable noun.

The wolf is a dangerous animal, not a specific wolf, but wolves in general.

An exception to this is man, when we're referring to humans.

Man is the most dangerous mammal, for example, or my cousin plays the violin.

Not a specific violin, just the instrument in general.

Number 15, we use it before organisations.

She works for the US Postal Service or the World Health Organisation just mentioned something

about that.

16, we use it when talking about hotels, restaurants, and pubs.

Don't stay at the Ritz Carlton; you should stay at the Hilton.

Or let's have a few pints at the Ship and Shovel.

Please note, we don't use the when the name of an establishment starts with a name.

For example, we should head down to Froggy's Tavern, not we should head down to the Froggy's

Tavern.

Number 17, we use it with newspapers.

Mandy told me to read this article from the Guardian or we haven't read the review in

the Times yet.

Okay, that just about covers all of the instances in which you would use the, although that

are always exceptions.

Now let's shift gears and learn about when you don't need to use the.

Number one, we don't use the with general plural countable and uncountable nouns.

She buys apples.

He is baking bread.

Number two, we don't use it with names of people.

Do you know John?

Not the John.

Do you know John?

It's the same with names of holidays.

For example, they have plans for Christmas and New Year's.

The same goes for companies.

I stopped using Twitter and Facebook when I got my Apple iPhone.

Universities follow the same rule.

When Scarlet finishes her undergrad at Oxford, she will transfer to Stanford.

However, there's an exception.

We do use the when the university name starts with the word university, like my brother

will be teaching at the University of Miami next year.

Most country names also do not use the.

You should come to England.

Or we are flying to Sri Lanka tomorrow.

Follow that rule, except for the ones we mentioned in the previous section.

Most names of cities, towns, and states do not use the.

Pollution is terrible in Los Angeles.

My grandparents retired in Florida.

We also don't tend to use the for streets.

Oleg's flat is on Lombard Street, right before St. George Lane.

The only one key exception is the high street.

Most British towns will have a high street.

It is the main street where most of the shops and restaurants are found.

We often call it the high street.

The shop is on the high street.

Most lakes also don't carry the.

We'll take the kids out to Lake Windermere at the weekend.

And also names of single mountains.

So we said mountain ranges, like the Himalayas does carry the.

Single mountains do not.

She really wants to visit Mount Everest.

Finally, continents.

This is my first time in Asia, for example.

No the needed.

Okay, enough names now.

Let's continue with number three.

We don't use the when talking about academic subjects.

My daughter is having trouble with maths.

I studied art.

We also don't tend to use it when discussing sports.

I haven't played baseball since I was young.

We also don't tend to use it when referring to languages or talking about someone's nationality.

We've been learning Italian since April.

I've just found out that I have Japanese ancestry.

An exception is when we say the Italian language when we make that extremely clear.

I'm studying the Spanish language.

I'm learning the English language.

Number six, we do not use the when we have a noun followed by a number.

She and her husband will find you on platform three.

Number seven, we don't use the with acronyms.

We are still waiting to hear what NATO has to say.

You do use the with initialisms.

These are acronyms in which you pronounce each letter individually.

The FBI is investigating this situation.

Notice, I said the there because I said F, which starts with a vowel sound, eh.

There are also some common places and locations that typically do not require the use of an

article.

Learning these generally comes with practise, but let's look at a few of the most common.

Home.

She's on her way home.

Work.

Can you pick me up from work today?

School or university.

What time do you need to go to school?

She's in her first year of university.

Church.

My friend and I met at church when we were 12.

Hospital in British English.

We say dad's in hospital at the moment.

Although you will hear the used before the hospital in American English.

I need to go to the hospital.

I would just say I need to go to hospital.

Okay, that is enough for today.

I know it's a lot of information.

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Mwah.