SPECIAL CASES IN THE USE OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

To decide if you should use the word the, ask yourself these three questions:
1. Is the noun indefinite (unspecified) o definite (specific)!
The general rule states that the first mention of a noun is indefinite and all subsequent
references to this noun are definite and take the:
A man is walking down a road. There is a dog with the man.
The second mention may be a synonym:
Combine butter, sugar and eggs. Add flour to the mixture.
First (indefinite mention requires a or an for a singular count noun, no article for a !lural
or non"count noun. #econd mention makes the correct for both count and non"count
nouns:
A growing !lant must ha$e water and minerals. The !lant must also ha$e sunlight.
The minerals must include nitrates and the water must not be saline.
Three speci"# $oups of nouns are considered definite in reference e$en if they ha$e not
been mentioned in the !receding sentence or clause.
") The first grou! consists of nouns which refer to sh"ed %no&#ed$e of the situ"tion o
conte't.
For exam!le, in Canada you can say
The %rime &inister will arri$e tomorrow
because there is only one %rime &inister in Canada, and so it is clear to whom you are
referring.
#imilarly, if there is only one hos!ital in the town, you can say
'e(s been working in the hos!ital for two years.
)ut you couldn(t say this in Toronto, where there are many hos!itals. *ou would ha$e to
name the !articular hos!ital in your first reference to it:
'e(s been working at Toronto +eneral 'os!ital for two years. 'e says the hos!ital is
in a financial mess.
() The second grou! consists of nouns referring to uni)ue o(*ects:
e.g., the sun,the earth,the %o!e,the sky,the equator

c) Supe#"ti+e "d*ecti+es "nd uni)ue "d*ecti+es form the third grou!. )ecause there can
be only one of these (only one of a series can be the tallest or the best or the first, they
take the definite article:
&exico City is the most !o!ulous city in the world.
- en.oyed the first !art, but - was disa!!ointed at the end.
#he is the !rinci!al researcher.
,- Is the noun .odified!
") Pe.odific"tion: -f the noun is !receded by one of the following""
this,that,these,those,some,any,each,e$ery,no,none,my,mine
do not use the definite article.
e.g., the red books,some red books,no red book,his red books,each red book
() Post.odific"tion: if the noun is followed by a relati$e clause (who/which/that or a
!re!ositional !hrase (of/in/to..., it is ."de definite "nd t"%es the definite "tic#e.
The man who li$es next door is Chinese.
/e take the regular collection of garbage for granted.
The .ourney to 0ancou$er takes three days by train.
1o one ex!ected the results that were found.
E/CEPTION: collecti$e nouns take the indefinite article:
a box of matches,a deck of cards,a bar of soa!,a herd of cows.
0- Is the noun $eneic!
+eneric reference is used when one refers to a whole grou! or class, to generali2e about
all !ossible members of a grou!. There are fi$e !atterns one can use:
") no article %34# !lural count noun:
-t(s astonishing what gymnasts can do.
() no article %34# noncount noun:
Love can cause a lot of suffering.
c) indefinite article %34# singular count noun:
-t(s astonishing what a gymnast can do.
5This !attern cannot be used to discuss the location or existence of
something,someone. *ou cannot say A lion lives in Africa. *ou must use !attern
(a or (d6.
d) definite article %34# singular count noun:
-t(s astonishing what the gymnast can do.
e) definite article %34# !lural nationality noun:
The Chinese ha$e an ancient culture.
%attern (a is most common in colloquial 7nglish8 !attern (d is frequently use in
academic writing.
S".p#e Coections of Sentences
9::: !a!er based system is $ery time consuming and error !rone.;
< A paper based system... 4se " if there many such systems and you are referring to one
of them.
< The paper based system... 4se the if there is only one such system in existence.
< Paper based systems... 4se the !lural if there are many such systems and you are
referring to all of them. =
97>- can suffer more from ::: breakdown than the manual system.;
< EDI can sffer more from a brea!down ... 4se " if the ty!e of breakdown has not been
s!ecified or is immaterial.
< EDI can sffer more from the brea!down ... 4se the only if you ha$e !re$iously
s!ecified which ty!e of breakdown this is.
< EDI can sffer more from brea!downs ... 4se the !lural if there are many ty!es of
breakdowns and all of them can occur.
9?rgani2ations should be ready for ::: increased workload.;
< "rgani#ations shold be ready for an increased wor!load. 4se " if there will be only
one ty!e of workload change, but you don@t know what kind.
< "rgani#ations shold be ready for the increased wor!load. 4se the if the increase is
s!ecific.
< "rgani#ations shold be ready for increased wor!loads. 4se the !lural if there are
many ty!es of increased workloads.
9-t is ::: museum@s task to ex!lore contem!orary culture.;
< It is a msem$s tas!... 4se " if you are referring to any museum.
< It is the msem$s tas!... 4se the if you are referring to one s!ecific museum.
Speci"# Uses of Atic#es
") Pope nouns- %ro!er nouns, because they are the names of !eo!le or !laces, are
already s!ecific and so do not need to be made more s!ecific by the definite article. #o we
say 9Aohn,; not 9the Aohn,; and 9Canada,; not 9the Canada.; (There are one or two
anomalous usages in !lace names: e.g., 9the 1etherlands,; but 9'olland.; This rule
ex!lains why we say 9)oyle@s 3aw,; not 9the )oyle@s 3aw,; and 9%lanck@s constant; but
not 9the %lanck@s constant.; #ometimes, howe$er, a !ro!er noun is used as an ad.ecti$e,
and ad.ecti$es do not affect the decision to use the article with the noun. *ou must look
at the noun in order to know whether or not to use the definite article.
< %apan$s financial problem B %apan is a !ro!er noun. 1o article.
< the %apanese financial problem B %apanese is an ad.ecti$e. 3ook at the noun to decide
if there should be an article: problem is general and must be made s!ecific by
using 9the.;
< %apanese financial problems B %apanese is an ad.ecti$e. 3ook at the noun. -t is !lural,
so refers to all !roblems in general. 1o article.
< &mith$s boo! on %apan B &mith is the !ro!er name of the !erson. 1o article.
< the &mith boo! on %apan ' &mith is used as an ad.ecti$e modifying the noun boo!.
(oo! is general, and must be made s!ecific by using the article. (If the n".e is
possessi+e1 it is " pope noun- If not1 it is "ctin$ "s "n "d*ecti+e.
() 2edi" "nd co..unic"tions3
4se a noun %34# definite article to refer to s4ste.s of communication and the mass
media, in contrast to the actual machine of communications. The tele!hone is the system
of communication8 a tele!hone is the actual !hysical machine.
The news!a!ers are all in agreement on the latest financial disaster.
5exce!tion: television usually has no article: Did yo see him on T)*6
c) 2e"ns of t"nspot"tion3
4se the definite article to refer to the whole trans!ort system, rather than to an indi$idual
$ehicle:
'ow long does it take on the busC
The subway is quicker.
5if you use the construction Dby %34# means of trans!ort,D there is no article:
I go by sbway6.
d) Fo.s of entet"in.ent3
To refer to a form of entertainment in general, use the definite article:
- en.oy seeing the ballet.
To refer to a !articular e$ent, use the indefinite article:
- saw a good mo$ie last night.
e) P#"ce5o(*ect o "cti+it4 nouns3
Certain nouns refer to either a !lace,ob.ect or to an
acti$ity. /hen they refer to an acti$ity, do not use
the definite article: ACTI6IT7
- go to bed at EE o(clock.
#he went to school for many years.
&any families eat dinner together.
- shower before brea!fast.
They are at chrch.
#he is in class.
O89ECT
>on(t .um! on the bed.
The school was too small.
The dinner was delicious.
The brea!fast was delicious.
The chrch is $ery old.
The class is in Foom EGH