The definite article - the

The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.
the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers

If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [ ], if the following word begins with a
consonant, we speak [ ].

[ ] [ ]

the following word starts with a spoken

the following word starts with a spoken vowel
consonant
the girl the English girl
the book the blue book
the school the old school
the unit the uncle
Here a [ ] is pronounced at the beginning of Here a [ ] is pronounced at the beginning of
the word. the word.

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the
definite article and when we don't.

without the definite article with the definite article

general words (indefinite) general words (definite)

Life is too short.
I like flowers.
names of persons on the singular,
relatives
Peter and John live in London.
Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.
public buildings, institutions, means of
transport (indefinite)
Mandy doesn't like school.
We go to school by bus.
Some people go to church on Sundays.
names of countries in the singular;
summits of mountains; continents; towns mountain ranges; regions
Germany, France;
Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley;
Africa, Europe;
Cairo, New York
single islands
Corfu, Bermuda, Sicily
parks; lakes; streets
Central Park, Hyde Park;
Lake Michigan, Loch Ness;
42nd Street, Oxford Street
I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.
I like the flowers in your garden.
family names in the plural
The Smiths live in Chicago.
public buildings, institutions, means of
transport (definite)
The school that Mandy goes to is old.
The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.
The round church in Klingenthal is famous.
names of countries in the plural;
the United States of America, the
Netherlands; the Highlands, the Rocky
Mountains, the Alps; the Middle East, the
west of Australia
groups of islands
the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries
name with of-phrase; oceans; seas;
rivers
the Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London),
the Isle of Wight;
the Atlantic (Ocean);
the Mediterranean (Sea);
the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal
months, days of the week (indefinite) months, days of the week (definite)
The weekend is over on Monday morning. I always remember the Monday when I had
July and August are the most popular months an accident.
for holidays. The August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the
definite article.

in summer or in the summer

The American English word for autum >fall< is always used with the definte article.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context.
Watch the following example:

The student goes to school.

The mother goes to the school.

In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student
goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.

The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different
reason. That's why we use the definite article in the second sentence.

Here are the rules for when to use "A, An or The":

a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects)
with consonants

She has a dog.

I work in a factory.

an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects)
with vowels (a,e,i,o,u)

Can I have an apple?

She is an English teacher.

the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener
know)

The car over there is fast.

The teacher is very good, isn't he?

The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that
object use "the".

I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.
I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good.
 DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and
mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".

He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.

They live in northern British Columbia.

Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas

My country borders on the Pacific Ocean

DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general

I like Russian tea.

She likes reading books.

DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport

He has breakfast at home.

I go to university.
He comes to work by taxi.