the

the is one of the 1000 most common headwords.

thank - the - then

the is on the New General Service List.

Pronunciation

stressed, before a vowel

• (UK) enPR: thē, IPA ^(key): /ðiː/, SAMPA: /Di:/
• (US) enPR: thē, IPA ^(key): /ði/, SAMPA: /Di/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

unstressed, before a consonant

• enPR: thə
• IPA ^(key): /ðə/
• SAMPA: /D@/

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Determiner

Determiner the

1. (definite) (singular & plural) (count & non-count) Used when your listener will know which one you mean.

   Compare "I went into a room." and "I went into the kitchen."

2. (definite) (singular & plural) (count & non-count) Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.

   Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?

3. (definite) (plural) Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people or things concerned.

   The poor need our help.

4. (definite) Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.

   You are the best.

5. The is used before a comparative to make a pair with another comparative, showing that as one changes, the other changes (the X-er, the Y-er).

   The bigger, the better.

   The more you read, the more you learn.

   The sooner we start, the sooner we finish.

Notes

• the is called "the definite article"