BBC World Service | Learning English

Definite articles
Continuing our look at articles we focus today on the definite article 'the' and look at four different ways it is used.

In the programme we challenge Diana from Colombia to identify the correct articles to complete our sentences.

Listen to the programme!

Definite articles

There are a lot of rules about how we use articles. Here are four rules for using the definite article 'the':

We use the definite article the

1. to refer to something or someone both speakers in a conversation know about:

I've got two children – a boy and a girl. The boy is 7 and the girl 4.

2. before seas, rivers, and groups of mountains or islands:

the Atlantic          the Nile          the Himalayas          the Philippines

3. if there is only one of these people or things:

the King          the UN           the sun           the White House

4. with superlatives:

the tallest          the fastest          the most expensive          the best

Download Nuala's grammar explanation (pdf - 23 K)

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 MB)
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Now it's your turn to practise the definite article . Go to our quiz page on this subject here.

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