Definite Article: Use of 'The'- Where to use and Where not to use

While writing English, we face problems with using the. Often, we don’t put the where it is necessary, and we use one where it is not. There are some rules to use the definite article.

 So, In this article we are going to discuss where to use the and where not to use it.

Read: Use of a and an.

Where to use 'The':

a) Before a common noun-

#1. To indicate any person or thing particularly.

E.g.-

The girl. The box, the man, the fan.

[The girl=মেয়েটি, the box=বাক্সখানি।]

See: common noun.

#2. When we say something about any person or thing that has already been mentioned earlier.

E.g.-
We have a car. The car is white.

I saw a man. The man was blind.

#3. 'The' is used before a common noun when the common noun is used to express the whole class.

E.g.- 

The dog is a faithful animal. 

The cow gives us milk.

-Here 'the cow' does not refer to a single cow, but the whole class of the animal cow.

#4. Used before an object, if the object is the only one in the nature.

E.g.-

The sun rises in the east.

The moon is a satellite.

The sky is blue.

Read: Use of a and an.

b) Before some proper nouns:

Seas and Oceans:

The Arabian sea, 

The Bay of Bengal, 

The Specific ocean, 

The Mediterranean Sea.

Before rivers:

The Ganga, the Padma, the Nile

The Jmuna, the Brahmaputra.

Before islands:

The Andamans, the Maldives, the Bahamas.

Before mountain Ranges:

The Aravalli Range, The Himalayas, The Alps.

Before vehicles:

Train- The Shatabdi Express, The Bandhan Express.

Ship- The Titanic, The USS Green Bay (LPD-20).

Aircraft- The Air France Flight 447, The Flying Tiger Flight 739.

Before religious books: 

The Geeta, The Koran, The Bible.

Before news papers:

The Modern Review, The Times, The Hindustan Times. The Statesman. 

Before a community:

The Hindu, The Muslim, The Christian, The Shikh.

Before a proper noun, when it is used as a common noun:

Rabindranath is the Shakespeare of Bengal.

Ahmedabad is the Manchester of India.

-The words Shakespeare and Manchester are actually proper nouns but here the are used as common noun.

Famous Palaces/ Architecture:

The Tajmahal, The White House, The Statue of Liberty, The Statue of Unity.

Before the name of a Political Party:

The Indian National Congress, The Conservative and Unionist Party, The Labour Party.

Before the Political or official name of a state:

The USA, The UK, The Republic of India, The People's Republic of China.

Read: proper noun.

c) Historical events:

The French Revolution, The Industrial Revolution, The Champaran Satyagrah.

d) Before musical instruments:

The guitar, the setar, the drums.

e) Before nationality:

The Indian, The Bangladeshi, The Pakistani, The Russian, The American.

f) Before Social or economic class:

The rich, the middle-class, the poor.

g) Before a date:

On the 15th August, On the 21st February.

h) Before the superlative degree:

Lalit is the tallest boy in the class.

Choose the most appropriate meaning.

i) Before a comparative  degree:

1. 'The' is used as an adverb, before a comparative degree-

The sooner the better.

The more you afraid the stronger it will be.

2.'The' is used before a comparative degree, when the comparison is between few subjects.

Messi is the better between Ronaldo and him.

Ronaldo is the more skilful between Messi and him.

Read: Use of a and an.

Where not to use 'The':

 Do not use 'the' -

a) Before some proper nouns-

 Name of a person:

Bikash, Thomas, Jimmy, Rohit.

'The Bikash' is meaningless, we have to write only 'Bikash'.

Before the name of a street/ city/country/continent/island:

We should not use 'the' before the name of a street/ city/country/continent/ a single island

Street- Mahatma Gandhi road.

City- New York, Kolkata, Dhaka. 

Country- America, India, Bangladesh.

Continent- Asia, Europe, Africa.
Island- Adelaide Island, Elephant Island.

Read: proper noun.

Now we are going to find some words before which we frequently use 'the' by mistake.

b) Before 'man':

We earlier have discussed that a common noun follows a 'the' when it refers to the whole class, but the common noun 'man', when it signifies the human class, 'the' is not used before it.

E.g.-
‘Man is mortal’, and not ‘the man is mortal’.

c) Before a day:

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... Saturday.

d) Before months:

January, February, March, April... December.

e) Before seasons:

Summer, winter, rainy season.

f) Before the name of a language:

English, Bengali, French, Chinese, Japanese.

g) Before the name of games:

Football, cricket, rugby, Volleyball, badminton.

h) Before the name of festivals:

Christmas, Muharram, Durga-puja.

So, that's all for naw. Hope these rules will help you a lot. Follow our blog to get more educational posts like this.

Read: Use of a and an.

Thank you...