The definite article | EF Global Site (English) (2024)

FAQs

The definite article | EF Global Site (English)? ›

The word "the" is one of the most common words in English. It is our only definite article. Nouns in English are preceded by the definite article when the speaker believes that the listener already knows what he is referring to.

In English there are three articles: a, an, and the. Articles are used before nouns or noun equivalents and are a type of adjective. The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader.

The definite article in English is 'the', and we can use it with singular and plural nouns. We use 'the' when: We have already identified the noun we are referring to in a previous phrase. There is only one of this thing (for example, 'the station' – there is only one in the city)

Definite Article: the

The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example: "The dog that bit me ran away."

We don't usually use an article in expressions with bed, work and home. We also don't normally use an article in expressions with school, university, prison and hospital. But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient, etc.

No article, or zero article as it is usually called, is definitely a form of article. We use zero article with plural and uncountable nouns when we are referring to things in general: Tennis is a beautiful game. French chefs make the best cooks.

In English, the definite article is the, and that's it… that's the only definite article! In Italian, there are seven, and they change depending on a noun's gender, number, and starting letter(s). They are: lo, il, l', gli, i, la, le.

What is the zero article rule? ›

The zero article is also known as the zero determiner. In general, no article is used with proper nouns, mass nouns where the reference is indefinite, or plural count nouns where the reference is indefinite.

Before Proper Nouns

We omit the articles that come before names. It can be the names (proper nouns) of people, places, countries, things etc. The articles in such cases will be omitted.

We say the USA, the States, the United States of America, but America (without the). This is so, as the USA is constituted of many states. We say the UK, the United Kingdom, but England (without the). We place the definite article before names of rivers, mountain ranges, but not peaks.

The definite article is the; it is used to refer to identified or specified people or things, both singular and plural.

There are four indefinite articles in Spanish: una, un, unos, and unas.

An article is a word that comes before a noun and describes it. The definite article ''the'' names a specific noun. The indefinite articles ''a'' and ''an'' tell that the noun is not a specific person, place, or thing.

In Spanish, el and la are equivalent to the English definite article ''the. '' They are definite, singular articles that specify a particular noun. El is masculine, and masculine nouns typically end in -o. An example is a Spanish word for a cat: el gato.