• The

    Pronunciation

    • when stressed or prevocalic
      • UK enPR: thÄ“, IPA: /ðiː/
      • (some UK dialects) enPR: thÉ™, IPA: /ðə/
      • US enPR: thÄ“, IPA: /ði/
      • Rhymes: -iː
    • when unstressed and preconsonantal
      • enPR: thÉ™, IPA: /ðə/ but see notes below
      • Rhymes: (generally not applicable as the unstressed variant is never used to terminate a phrase)
    pronunciation notesThe word the is commonly pronounced /ðiː/ whenever it is pronounced as a distinct word, e.g.:
    • When it is used for emphasis (This is the hospital for heart surgery.).
    • When the speaker pauses between the and the next word (the … sovereignty).
    • In many but not all dialects, when the next word begins with a vowel sound the onion (compare with a vs. an).
    no: this is not true: * When referred to as a word (the word “the”).The word is generally pronounced indistinctly as /ðə/ or merely /ð/ in other situations, such as when attached to a word beginning with a consonant sound. well, thus and th' U.S. are different in many ways, neither really including a glottal stop — In dialects that do not pronounce the distinctly before a vowel, a glottal stop is generally inserted (e.g., the US in the US festival would still be pronounced differently from thus in thus festival seating should be outlawed).
    "the" vs. "ye"

    Origin 1

    Alternative forms

    eobsolete, %E1%BA%8Fe archaic: variant spelling of the.

    From Middle English, from Old English þē ("the, that", demonstrative pronoun.), a late variant of sē ("that, the"). Originally masculine nominative, in Middle English it superseded all previous Old English forms (sē, sēo, þæt, þā), from Proto-Germanic *sa ("that"), from Proto-Indo-European *só, *to-, *tód ("demonstrative pronoun"). Cognate with West Frisian de, dy ("the, that"), Dutch de, die ("the, that"), Low German de, dat ("the, that"), German der, die, das ("the, that"), Danish den ("the, that"), Swedish den ("the, that"), Icelandic það ("that").

    Article

    article

    1. definite from 10th c.I’m reading the book. (Compare I’m reading a book.)The street in front of your house. (Compare A street in Paris.)The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.
    2. Used before an object considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time. from 10th c.No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe.God save the Queen!
    3. With a superlative, it and that superlative refer to one object. from 9th c.That apple pie was the best.
    4. Introducing a term to be taken generically; preceding a name of something standing for a whole class. from 9th c.
      • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, page 536:Stern and God-fearing, the Afrikaner takes his religion seriously.
    5. Used before an adjective, indicating all things (especially persons) described by that adjective. from 9th c.Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
    6. Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is most usually of concern, or most common or familiar. from 12th c.No one in the whole country had seen it before.I don't think I'll get to it until the morning.
    7. Used before a body part (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun. from 12th c.A stone hit him on the head. (= “A stone hit him on his head.”)
    8. When stressed, indicates that it describes an object which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention. from 18th c.That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.

    Usage notes

    Usage notes (with proper nouns)

    The word the precedes proper nouns in a number of cases, although most proper nouns use no article. There are always exceptions. See also for more information.

    Countries

    As a general rule, country names are not preceded by the. There are a few exceptions, most of which are pluralised:

    The Netherlands

    The Bahamas

    The Solomon Islands

    The Maldives

    The Seychelles

    The Philippines

    The Yemen (can also be used without an article)

    The Sudan (can also be used without an article)

    The Ukraine (article dropped since 1991)

    The Lebanon (usually used without the article)

    Names of countries containing specifications like kingdom, republic etc are used with the:

    The United States

    The United Kingdom

    The United Arab Emirates

    The Czech Republic

    Place names

    Some place names use a definite article

    All oceans (The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean)

    All seas (The Red Sea, The Bering Sea, The Caribbean Sea), and straits (The Strait of Magellan, the Bering Strait, The Bosphorus)

    All rivers (The Amazon, The Nile, The Mississippi, The Seine, The Yangtze), canals (The Panama Canal, The Suez Canal) and deltas (The Nile Delta, The Orinoco Delta, The Colorado River Delta)

    All art galleries (The Tate, The Louvre, The Smithsonian American Art Museum), all museums with the word museum in the name (The National Museum of Natural History, The British Museums)

    Most English-language newspapers (The New York Times, The Guardian, The Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal)

    Bands

    Musical bands with a plural name are generally used with the:

    The Beatles

    The Rolling Stones

    Universities

    University names beginning with the word "University", and some other university names, are used with the:

    The University of North Carolina

    The Ohio State University

    Usage notes (with adjectives)

    When used before an adjective which is not followed by a noun, it may refer to a group of people for which the adjective is appropriate:

    the Scottish = Scots

    the rich = rich people considered as a group

    Derived terms

    terms derived from the (determiner)

    Origin 2

    From Middle English, from Old English þȳ ("by that, after that, whereby"), originally the instrumental case of the demonstratives sē and þæt. Cognate with Dutch des te ("the, the more"), German desto ("the, all the more"), Norwegian fordi ("because"), Icelandic því ("because").

    Full definition of the

    Adverb

    the

    1. With a comparative or more and a verb phrase, establishes a parallel with one or more other such comparatives.The hotter, the better.The more I think about it, the weaker it looks.The more money donated, the more books purchased, and the more happy children.It looks weaker and weaker, the more I think about it.
    2. With a comparative, and often with for it, indicates a result more like said comparative. This can be negated with none.It was a difficult time, but I’m the wiser for it.It was a difficult time, and I’m none the wiser for it.I'm much the wiser for having had a difficult time like that.

    Anagrams

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