The word "the" is one of the most common words in English. It is the only definite article. Nouns in English are preceded by the definite article when the speaker believes that the listener already knows what the speaker is talking about.
I wanted to buy a new sofa (new object). later: I paid 500 bucks for the sofa.
Sometimes you do not need to mention the thing because it's clear to everybody what we are talking about:
Where's the bathroom?
I got to the airport in time.
The postman was late this morning.
TASK 01:. a/an or the?
1. This morning I bought ..... newspaper and ..... magazine. .....newspaper is in my bag but I don't know where ..... magazine is.
2. My parents have ..... cat and ..... dog. ..... dog never bites ..... cat but ..... cat often scratches ..... dog.
3. I saw ..... accident this morning. ..... car crashed into ..... wall...... driver of ..... car was not hurt but ..... car was badly damaged.
4. Would you like ..... apple?
5. Could you close ..... door, please?
6. We live in ..... flat near ..... centre of ..... city.
7. Did ..... police find ..... person who stole ...... bicycle?
8. As I was walking along ..... street, I saw ..... $10 note on ..... pavement.
9. This is ....... nice house. Has it got ..... garden?
10. There's no need to buy any milk. ..... milkman brings it every morning.
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THE - when there is only ONE of something (superlatives belong here)
London is ..... capital of the UK.
The earth goes round the sun.
We say: the sea (BUT! We were at sea when the meaning is go/be on a voyage), the sky, the ground, the countryside/country (vidék)
the sky, BUT! in space!
At night you can see stars in THE sky.
There are millions of stars in space.
but when we mean parking space, look what happens:
He tried to park his car but the space wasn't big enough.
We went to the cinema/theatre. We listen to the radio. BUT: We watch TV. I watched the news on TV.
BUT! Turn off the television.
Meals:
We had dinner in a restaurant.
Superlatives:
What is the longest river in the world?
You can use THE with comparatives, too, 'minél-annál' értelemben.
What time shall we leave?
THE sooner THE better.
Task 02: MATCH:
the earlier we leave the faster you'll learn
the longer he waited the more you have to pay
the more I got to know him the sooner we'll arrive
the more you practise your English the more profit you'll make
the longer the telephone call the more impatient he became
the more goods you sell the more I liked him
the more you have the less you know
the more you learn the more you want
Task 03: Fill in the gaps with a/an, - (blank) or the:
1. I wrote my name at ..... top of the page.
2. ..... Soviet Union was ..... first country to send ..... man into ..... space.
3. Peru is ..... country in South America. ..... capital is Lima.
4. It was a long voyage. We were at ..... sea for four weeks.
5. I never listen to ..... radion. In fact, I haven't got ..... radio.
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Groups!
THE+adjectives:
Task 04:
People who live in Britain? ----) THE BRITISH
.... Ireland
.....Spain
.....Japan
.... China
.....Switzerland
.......... France
..... English
The ....... are famous for their parfumes. The ...... are famous for their bullfights. The ..... are famous for their mountains (+ chocolate). The ..... are famous for their green scenery and whiskey. The ...... are famous for their snow-capped Fuji. The ..... are famous for starting a pandemic in 2019.
Task 05:
people without jobs: THE .......
people who can't see:
people who can't hear:
people who are not alive:
people who are not young:
people who are not old:
affluent people:
not affluent people:
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THE with geographical names:
Continents: - Europe
Countries: - Japan, France, Hungary BUT!!!
THE United Kingdom, THE Republic of Ireland
with plurals: THE Netherlands, THE Philippines
Cities:
in - New York .... BUT! The Hague
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