| The is used before: | |
| nouns which are unique.
the Earth, the Eiffel Tower |
musical instruments, dances.
the piano, the tango |
| names of cinemas (the Rex), hotels (the Sheraton), theatres (the Apollo), museums (the Prado), newspapers/magazines (the Guardian), ships (the Marie Celeste), institutions (the RSPCA), galleries (the Tate Gallery). | names of rivers (the
Seine), seas (the Black Sea), groups of islands/states
(the Bahamas, the USA), mountain ranges (the Alps),
deserts (the Sahara desert), oceans (the Atlantic),
canals (the Suez Canal) and names or nouns with "of" (the
Tower of Londin, the Statue of Liberty). Note: the equator, the North/South Pole, the north of England, the South/West/North/East |
| names of families (the Browns), nationalities ending in -sh, -ch or -ese (the English, the Dutch, the Japanese). Other plural nationalities are used with or without "the" (the Greeks, the Italians etc.) | titles (the Queen, the Prince). "The" is omitted before titles with proper names (Queen Victoria). |
| adjectives used as plural nouns
(the poor, the rich, the young, the blind etc) and the
superlative degree of adjectives/adverbs (the worst). She's the most beautiful girl in her class. Note: "most" used as a determiner followed by a noun, does not take "the". Most people believe he's a liar. |
the words station, shop, cinema, pub, library,
city, village etc. She went to the station to see Jim off. |
| historical references/events.
the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, the First World War (but: World War I) |
|
| morning, afternoon, evening, night. I'll be at home in the evening. but: at night, at noon, at midnight, by day/night, at 4 o'clock etc. |
only, last, first
(used as adjectives). He was the last person to come. |
