the in English: meaning and examples

Translation

Used before a noun when the listener already knows which person or thing you mean.

Word origin

From Old English se and þe, the demonstrative that weakened into the single definite article 'the' as English lost its grammatical gender.

.

Shut the one particular door we both know about.

.

There is only one sun, so we always say "the sun".

.

Out of all the teachers, this one is number one.

a

Used before a word that starts with a consonant sound, to talk about one person or thing that is not a special or known one.

an

Used before a word that starts with a vowel sound, to mean one of something.

this

Points to a person or thing that is near, or the one you are talking about right now.

that

Points to a person or thing further away, or the one already mentioned, and can also join two parts of a sentence.

it

Stands for a thing, an animal, or an idea already mentioned, and can also start a sentence about weather or time.

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