DEFINITE ARTICLE:
Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular, specified persons or things: the baby; the dress I wore.
Used before a noun, and generally stressed, to emphasize one of a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent: considered Lake Shore Drive to be the neighborhood to live in these days.
Used to indicate uniqueness: the Prince of Wales; the moon.
Used before nouns that designate natural phenomena or points of the compass: the weather; a wind from the south.
Used as the equivalent of a possessive adjective before names of some parts of the body: grab him by the neck; an infection of the hand.
Used before a noun specifying a field of endeavor: the law; the film industry; the stage.
Used before a proper name, as of a monument or ship: the Alamo; the Titanic.
Used before the plural form of a numeral denoting a specific decade of a century or of a life span: rural life in the Thirties.
Used before a singular noun indicating that the noun is generic: The wolf is an endangered species.
Used before an adjective extending it to signify a class and giving it the function of a noun: the rich; the dead; the homeless.
Used before an absolute adjective: the best we can offer.
Used before a present participle, signifying the action in the abstract: the weaving of rugs.
Used before a noun with the force of per: cherries at $1.50 the box.
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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English the, alteration (influenced by th-, oblique case stem of demonstrative pron.), of se, masculine demonstrative pron.; see so- in Indo-European roots
Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular, specified persons or things: the baby; the dress I wore.
Used before a noun, and generally stressed, to emphasize one of a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent: considered Lake Shore Drive to be the neighborhood to live in these days.
Used to indicate uniqueness: the Prince of Wales; the moon.
Used before nouns that designate natural phenomena or points of the compass: the weather; a wind from the south.
Used as the equivalent of a possessive adjective before names of some parts of the body: grab him by the neck; an infection of the hand.
Used before a noun specifying a field of endeavor: the law; the film industry; the stage.
Used before a proper name, as of a monument or ship: the Alamo; the Titanic.
Used before the plural form of a numeral denoting a specific decade of a century or of a life span: rural life in the Thirties.
Used before a singular noun indicating that the noun is generic: The wolf is an endangered species.
Used before an adjective extending it to signify a class and giving it the function of a noun: the rich; the dead; the homeless.
Used before an absolute adjective: the best we can offer.
Used before a present participle, signifying the action in the abstract: the weaving of rugs.
Used before a noun with the force of per: cherries at $1.50 the box.
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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English the, alteration (influenced by th-, oblique case stem of demonstrative pron.), of se, masculine demonstrative pron.; see so- in Indo-European roots
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