Definite articles

Definite articles

The is a definite article used to talk about something specific

Eg : The river, The Atlantic ocean, The american, The british.

What is a definite article?

An article is a word that typically identifies a part of a speech as a noun (or noun equivalent) without describing it. A definite article is an article that indicates that a noun refers to a specific thing or to something that has been identified previously.

In English, there is only one definite article: the word the. To give an example of how we use the, look at the following sentences:

• Luna heard wolves howling in the forest. The wolves sounded sad.

The second sentence uses the to refer to a specific pack of wolves whose identity was revealed in the previous sentence. By using the, we indicate that only this specific group of wolves sounded sad.

Definite article examples

In English, the only definite article is the. The is one of the most commonly used words, so you will find it and use it in many sentences.

The used in a sentence

The following sentences show just some examples of how we use the to refer to specific things:

• The sun dipped below the horizon.
• The king laughed at the court jester.
• Lisa’s painting won the contest.
• The birds built a nest in the tree by the river.

What is the role of a definite article?

As a definite article, the word the is used to refer to specific things/groups or to particular things/groups that have been already identified. The is also used to refer to something that is unique, meaning only one of it exists.