Page 54 - New Grammar with a Smile 8

1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned. For example,
• A fox and a stork went to lunch. The stork had a long beak, but the fox had a
flat mouth.

2. when both the speaker and the listener know what is being referred to, even if it
has not been mentioned before. For example,
• ‘Where is the kitchen?’

• The weather is good these days.

3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object.
For example,
• The man who wrote this poem is famous.
• My house is the one with blue doors.

4. to refer to objects we regard as unique. For example,

the sun, the moon, the world, the Himalayas

5. before superlatives and ordinal numbers.
For example, Note
the first, the 23rd, the best, the highest The is generally not used before
building, the first page, the last chapter proper or abstract nouns, unless it is
needed to identify those nouns in a
6. with common nouns which are derived particular context. For example,
from proper nouns, to refer to a whole • The Amit I know is bald.
group of people, nationalities or a race. For (identifies a particular person
example, named Amit who is bald)
• The honesty shown by this boy is
the Indians, the Kashmiris, the praiseworthy.
South Africans
It is also not used before plural
7. with decades, or groups of years. For countable nouns if they are being
example, referred to in general. For example,
• She grew up in the seventies. • Children these days are just as
naughty as their parents used to
8. for both singular as well as plural countable be. (NOT The children...)
nouns. The definite article the can also
be used with some uncountable nouns
provided they are made specific or definite in the context. For example,
the weather of Delhi, the water in the glass, the business that I am going to start.

Omission of Articles

We do not use an article

1. before names of people. (Anand, Ahsan, Ms Reddy)

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