- You cannot use “a/ an” with uncountable nouns: accommodation, advice, baggage,

behavior, bread, chaos, damage, furniture, information, luck, luggage, news,

a/ an & the:

- We use the when we are thinking of one particular thing, when it’s clear which thing or
person we mean: the light/ the floor/ the ceiling/ the door/ the carpet; the bank, the post
office; the doctor, the dentist; in the city centre, in the army.
- we say ‘once a week/ three times a day/ $ 1.20 a kilo’ etc.

the

- We use the when there is only one of something: the longest, the sun, the moon, at the end
of, the capital of, the sky, the sea, the ground, the country, the environment.
 We say space (without ‘the’) when we mean ‘space in the universe’. Exam.: There are
Millions of stars in space. But: I tried to park my car but the space was too small.

- We use the before same (the same): These two photoes are the same.
- We say: (go to) the cinema, the theatre.
- We say: the radio, but television (without ‘the’):

- We don’t normally use the with the names of meals (breakfast, lunch …)
 But we use a if there is an adjective before breakfast, lunch etc.: We had a very nice lunch.

- We do not use ‘the’ before noun + number. For example, Platform 5, Room 126, page 29

- Using school, prison, hospital, university, church, we do not use the when we are
thinking of the general idea of these places and what they are used for

- We say: ‘go to bed/ be in bed’ (not ‘the bed’), but: I sat down on the bed. (a particular piece of furniture)
- ‘go to work/ be at work/ start work/ finish work’; ‘go home/ come home/ arrive home’ etc
- We say ‘go to sea/ be at sea’ (without ‘the’) when the meaning is ‘go/ be on a voyage’:
Keith is a seaman. He spends most of his life at sea. but: I’d like to live near the sea.

- We say ‘most people/ most books/ most cars’ (not ‘the most …’). Most people like George.

- We use the (+ a singular countable noun) to talk about a type of animal, machine etc.
The giraffe is the tallest of all animals. When was the telephone invented?
- In the same way we use the for musical instruments: Can you play the guitar?
- We use man (= human beings in general) without ‘the’: What do you know about the
origin of man? (not ‘the man’)
- We use the + adjective (without a noun) to talk about groups of people: the young, the rich,
the sick, the old, the poor, the disabled, the elderly, the unemployed, the injured, the dead,
the homeless. These expressions are always plural in meaning. You cannot say ‘a young’
- You can use the with some nationality adjectives to mean ‘the people of that country’:
The French, the English, the Spanish, the Dutch, the British, the Irish, the Welsh,
the Swiss, the Chinese, the Sudanese, the Italians, the Mexicans, the Scots, the Turks.
They are plural in meaning. To make singular you must say: a Frenchman,
an Englishwoman, a Japanese, a Sudanese, a Swiss, an Italian, a Mexican, a Scot, a Turk.
 Names with and without ‘the’:
- We do not normally use ‘the’ with names of places. For example:
• continents: Africa (not ‘the Africa’), Europe, South America
• countries: France (not ‘the France’), Japan, Switzerland
• states, regions etc.: Texas, Cornwall, Tuscany, Central Europe
• islands: Corsica, Sicily, Bermuda
• cities, towns etc.: Cairo, New York, Madrid
• mountains: Everest, Etna, Kilimanjaro
 But we use the in names with ‘Republic’, ‘Kingdom’, ‘States’ etc.: the USA, the United
Kingdom, the Dominican Republic
- We do not use ‘the’ when we use Mr./ Mrs./ Captain/ Doctor etc. + a name: Mr.
Johnson/ Doctor Johnson/ Captain Johnson/ President Johnson; Uncle Robert/ Aunt Jane/
Saint Catherine/ Princess Anne etc.
- We use mount (= mountain) and lake without ‘the’: Mount Everest, Mount Etna, Lake Superior
- We use ‘the’ with the names of oceans, seas, rivers and canals: the Atlantic (Ocean), the
Amazon, the Mediterranean (Sea), the Channel, the (River) Thames, the Nile, the Red
Sea, the Suez Canal, the Rhine

- We use ‘the’ with plural names of people and places:

- We say: the north (of France) but northern France (without ‘the’)
the south-east (of Spain) but south-eastern Spain
Example: Sweden is in northern Europe; Spain is in the south.
Also: the Middle East, the Far East
- We also use north/ south etc. + a place name without ‘the’: North America, West Africa
- We do not use ‘the’ with names of most streets/ roads/ squares/ parks etc.: Union Street,
Blackrock Road, Fifth Avenue, Broadway, Piccadilly Circus, Times Square, Hyde Park,
Waterloo Bridge
- We do not use ‘the’ with names of important buildings and institutions: Kennedy
Airport, Cambridge University, Victoria Station, Westminster Abbey, Edinburgh Castle,
Buckingham Palace, London Zoo, Canterbury Cathedral
 But we say ‘the White House’, ‘the Royal Palace’, because ‘white’ and ‘royal’ are not
Names like ‘Kennedy’ and ‘Cambridge’.
- These places are usually used with ‘the’:
● hotels/ restaurants/ pubs: the Station Hotel, the Bombay Restaurant, the Red Lion (pub)
● theatres/ cinemas: the Palace Theatre, the Odeon Cinema
● museums/ galleries: the British Museum, the Tate Gallery
● other buildings: the Empire State Building, the Festival Hall, the White House
● oceans/ seas/ canals: the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal
● newspapers: the Washington Post, the Financial Times
● organisations: the European Community, the BBC
 Names of companies, airlines etc. Are usually without ‘the’: Fiat, Sony, Kodak, British
Airways, IBM
- Names with … of … usually have ‘the’: the Bank of England, the Houses of Parliament,
The Gulf of Mexico, the Tower of London, the Great Wall of China, the University of
London, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tropic of Capricorn
- We do not use ‘the’ with the names after the people of shops, restaurants, hotels, banks etc:
Lloyds Bank, McDonalds, Jack’s Guest House, Harrods (shop), St John’s Church,
St Paul’s Cathedral