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I. OVERALL PRESENTATION

We use "the" when we speak about something people know about.

Example: I went to the library to buy a book.

"The" is pronounced before a consonant: "de", for example: the school

"The" is pronounced before a vowel: "di", for example: the ocean

But there is an exception with the letter "u", for example we say "de": the university

"The" is often used with "only" and the superlatives: It is the only vegetable I like.

In the plural form, you take the singular sentence an add an "s" at the end of the word and change the verb.

We use "the" in generalization with singular countable nouns, to talk about a whole class of things. Which is common in scientific and technical language.

I cannot play the piano.

Moreover some word are so general that they take "the" ( universal ).

The theatre, the sun, the sea

II. NO USE OF "THE"

We do not use "the" in generalization with plural and uncountable nouns.

I like music.

People have to live in society.

We do not use "the" before:

Titles and names: President Clinton
Main buildings of towns: Oxford University
Name with possession form: Eddy’s desk
Meal: Breakfast
Games and sport: People are playing tennis
Music instruments: He learnt guitar from his brother
Language: French is difficult to learn
Country: France is a beautiful country to live in

But attention:

The United States, The United Kingdom,The Philippines, The Netherlands
Geographic names: Mount Everest Lake Michigan
Days of the week: on Tuesdays

The meaning may change whether you use "the" or not:

She’s in prison, means she is a prisoner.

Is different than, she is in the prison.

IF YOU WANT TO DO SOME EXERCISES ABOUT THIS GRAMMAR POINT,

CLOSE THIS APPLICATION, GO TO "DEMARRER", "PROGRAMMES", "GRAMSTER"

AND CHOOSE A LEVEL ON THE MENU OF TENSE BUSTER