| A |
We use the when there is only one of something:
- Have you ever crossed the equator? (there is only one equator)
- What's the Longest river in Europe?
- Our apartment is on the tenth floor.
- Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.
- I'm going away at the end of this month.
We use the before same (the same):
- Your sweater is the same colour as mine. (not is same colour)
- 'Are these keys the same?' 'No, they're different.'
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| B |
We say:
the sun the moon the earth the world the universe the sky the sea the ground the environment the internet
- I love to look at the stars in the sky. (not in sky)
- The internet has changed the way we live.
- We need to do more to protect the environment. (= the natural world around us)
- The earth goes round the sun, and the moon goes round the earth.
We also use 'Earth' (without the) when we think of it as a planet in space (like Mars, Jupiter etc.).
- Which planet is nearest Earth?
We say space (without the) when we mean 'space in the universe'. Compare
- There are millions of stars in space. (not in the space)
- I tried to park my car, but the space was too small.
We use a/an to say what kind of thing something is (see Unit 71 B). Compare the and a:
- The sun is a star. (= one of many stars)
- The hotel we stayed at was a very nice hotel.
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| C |
We say: (go to) the cinema, the theatre.
- I go to the cinema a lot, but I haven't been to the theatre for ages.
When we say the cinema / the theatre, we do not necessarily mean a specific cinema or theatre.
We usually say the radio, but television/TV (without the). Compare:
- I listen to the radio a lot. but I watch television a lot.
- We heard it on the radio. but We watched it on TV.
The television / the TV = the television set:
- Can you turn off the television, please?
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| D |
We do not normally use the with breakfast/lunch/dinner:
- What did you have for breakfast?
- We had lunch in a very nice restaurant.
But we use a/an if we say 'a big lunch', 'a wonderful dinner', 'an early breakfast' etc. :
- We had a very nice lunch. (not We had very nice lunch)
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| E |
We do not use the before noun + number. For example, we say:
- Our train leaves from Platform 5. (not the Platform 5)
- (in a shop) Do you have these shoes in size 43? (not the size 43)
In the same way, we say: Room 126 (in a hotel), page 29 (of a book), question 3 (in an exam), Gate 10 (at an airport) etc.
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