Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
58 The definite article the (1): Which car do you like? - The black BMW
Quick reference
We use the:
• when we talk about a particular person or thing. / met the man she's going to marry.
• with superlatives. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
• with parts of the day. in the morning in the afternoon in the evening (but at night)
• with words describing geographical position and place, in the north on the left
• with the names of rivers, oceans, groups of mountains and islands, the Thames the Alps but not with most lakes and individual mountains and islands. Lake Superior Cuba
• with the names of buildings, cinemas, hotels, etc. the Eiffel Tower the Imperial Hotel
but not with most churches, castles, squares, streets. Ely Cathedral Walton Street
• with ’plural’ countries, the United States the West Indies the Netherlands
but not with continents and most countries. Asia Europe North America Spain Britain
• with an adjective used for the people of a country, the British the French theJapane.se but when we use a plural noun, the is usually optional, (the) Americans (the) Europeans
• with an adjective describing groups of people, the rich the homeless
We don’t use the:
• in the phrases in bed/to bed at work/to work at home by bus, by train, etc.
• before days, months and festivals. It was Sunday, in June at Christmas
• before meals. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hotel.
• before school subjects/languages. I’m studying French and Geography this year.
• before time expressions like last week next month last Tuesday next Thursday
• before church, hospital, school, college, university, prison, court when we’re talking about the main purpose of these places. He’s very ill. He’s in hospital.
but we use the when we go to these places for an alternative purpose, or when we’re talking about a particular church, a particular hospital, etc.
He went to the hospital to see his mother. She works at the school in Miller Street.
1 Match the items in the two columns, and complete the sentences, using the where necessary.
1 ... River Nile is
2 ... Volga is
3 ... Mount Kilimanjaro is
4 ... Downing Street is
5 ... White House is
6 ... rich and ... famous
7 ... Trafalgar Square is
8 ... English, ... French and ... Spanish
a) colonised ... West Indies.
b) where ... President of ... the USA lives.
c) ... most famous square in … London.
d) ... longest river in ... Europe.
e) ... residence of ... Britain’s Prime Minister.
f) ... highest mountain in ... Africa.
g) stay at ... Ritz Hotel in ... London.
h) ... longest river in ... world.
1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8...
2 Mikael is learning English. He finds the use of the very difficult. Read what he says. Some of the lines are correct, and some have a the which should not be there. If a line is correct, put a tick (✓). If a line has a the which should not be there, underline it and write the in the brackets.
1 I’ve been learning English since the last year. I came to England
2 the last April, just before Easter. I go to a language school in the
3 centre of London near the Leicester Square. We do three hours
4 in the morning, then we have lunch. After the lunch we do two hours
5 and finish at 4 o’clock. We don’t work on Friday afternoons or on
6 Saturdays. The last month I met an English girl, Rebecca, who
7 wants to learn the Russian. It’s Christmas next week. Next
8 Saturday we’re going to the north of England to spend Christmas with
9 her parents. We’re going by the bus because it’s the cheapest way to
10 travel. The next summer Rebecca is coming to Russia to stay with me.
3 Complete the text, using a or the.
Sophie and Larry are looking for (1) ... new house in (2) ... town where they live. They like (3) ... house they’re living in, but (4) ... rooms are too small, and it’s difficult to find (5) ... parking-place. (6) ... street’s noisy too. Sophie wants (7) ... bigger house away from the city centre. They both want (8) ... house in (9) ... quiet part of (10) ... town. Yesterday they looked at (11) ... nice house with (12) ... garage and (13) ... garden. Larry liked (14) ... garage, but Sophie thought (15) ... garden was too small. And there was only (16) ... shower in (17) ... bathroom. Was it really (18) ... house they wanted?
4 Complete the text, using the where necessary.
Jerry Walsh’s father is in (1) ... prison. Jerry lives with his sister and his mother. They try to look after him, but his mother’s at (2) ... work all day and his sister’s at (3) ... college. At the moment his mother’s ill in (4) ... hospital. He’s never been to (5) ... hospital to see her. He's supposed to be at (6) ... school every day, but he stays in (7) ... bed a lot of the time. He goes to (8) ... school at (9) ... end of his street, but he doesn’t go to (10) ... school very often. He never goes to (11) ... church on (12) ... Sundays, but on (13) ... Tuesdays he sometimes goes to (14) ... church near his house because there’s a youth club there. Jerry’s only 12, but he’s often in trouble with the police and he’s already been in (15) ... court three times.