the

(THē THə )
def.art.

1. 1. Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular, specified persons or things: the baby; the dress I wore.
   2. Used before a noun, and generally stressed, to emphasize one of a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent: considered Lake Shore Drive to be the neighborhood to live in these days.
   3. Used to indicate uniqueness: the Prince of Wales; the moon.
   4. Used before nouns that designate natural phenomena or points of the compass: the weather; a wind from the south.
   5. Used as the equivalent of a possessive adjective before names of some parts of the body: grab him by the neck; an infection of the hand.
   6. Used before a noun specifying a field of endeavor: the law; the film industry; the stage.
   7. Used before a proper name, as of a monument or ship: the Alamo; the Titanic.
   8. Used before the plural form of a numeral denoting a specific decade of a century or of a life span: rural life in the Thirties.
2. Used before a singular noun indicating that the noun is generic: The wolf is an endangered species.
3. 1. Used before an adjective extending it to signify a class and giving it the function of a noun: the rich; the dead; the homeless.
   2. Used before an absolute adjective: the best we can offer.
4. Used before a present participle, signifying the action in the abstract: the weaving of rugs.
5. Used before a noun with the force of per: cherries at $1.50 the box.

[Middle English, from Old English the, alteration (influenced by , th-, oblique case stem of demonstrative pron.) of se, masculine demonstrative pron..]

the² (THē THə )
adv.

1. Because of that. Used before a comparative: thinks the worse of you after this mistake.
2. To that extent; by that much: the sooner the better.
3. Beyond any other: enjoyed reading the most.

[Middle English, from Old English thȳ, thē, instrumental of thæt, neuter demonstrative pron..]

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1. The, called the definite article, is the commonest word in English, occurring about once in every seven words of everyday language. It can therefore come as a surprise to know that it is pronounced in three ways, depending on its role and position. In normal use it is pronounced dhǝ before a word beginning with a consonant (the table / the green house) and dhi before a word beginning with a vowel or a softly aspirated h sound (the apples / the other leg / the hotel). When emphasized, it is pronounced dhee (You mean the Sharon Stone?). These distinctions come naturally to most native speakers, but occasional divergences are heard, especially over-emphasis of the in cases where the weak form is called for.

2. When two nouns are joined by and, a second the is normally omitted: the distortion and innuendo to which several of your correspondents have resorted. But the must be repeated to avoid ambiguity: the black and the white jerseys / the London and the Southampton trains. When two nouns joined by and form the subject of a sentence, they are sometimes regarded as a single concept and treated as grammatically singular:

The innocence and purity of their singing comes entirely from their identification with the character—Bernard Levin, 1985.

See agreement ³.

3. In titles of books, plays, films, etc., The should be retained when it forms part of the recognized title, but can be omitted when it does not fit the structure of the sentence: Look in The Times / a new edition of The Chicago Manual of Style but John is a Times reporter / J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

4. In British English it is usual to add the when referring to a person by a title, as in The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, attended the meeting. The style Prime Minister Gordon Brown attended the meeting is characteristic of American English. After verbs such as become, be appointed, etc., the definite article can be omitted before titles or names of office that refer to a single person: He became Prime Minister in 2007.

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IN BRIEF: Used especially before nouns with a specifying, particularizing, or definite effect.

You are not the first person to tell me about it.

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sign description: The letters T, H and E are fingerspelled.

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See words rhyming with "the."

  See crossword solutions for the clue The.

Common misspelling(s) of the

• ther
• tjhe
• teh
• tghe
• hten

Dansk (Danish)
1.
det. - den, det, de, -(e)n, -(e)t, -(e)ne

2.
adv. - des, desto, jo

Nederlands (Dutch)
de, het, des te, per, de/ het enige/ echte/beste/ etc.

Français (French)
1.
det. - le, la, les, l', le/la meilleur(e), les (+ nom de famille)

2.
adv. - dans cette mesure-là, de ça

Deutsch (German)
1.
det. - der, die, das

2.
adv. - je, um so

Ελληνική (Greek)
art. - ο, η, το, οι, τα
adv. - τόσο, όσο, ανά (τεμάχιο κ.λπ.), κατά (δωδεκάδα κ.λπ.), πολύ
pref. - ο συγκεκριμένος

Italiano (Italian)
il, l', la, lo, gli, i, le

Português (Portuguese)
art. - o (m), a (f), os (m), as (f)
adv. - quanto mais, tanto mais, quanto, tanto

Русский (Russian)
определенный член, артикль

Español (Spanish)
1.
det. - el, la, las, lo, los

2.
adv. - cuando, mientras tanto

Svenska (Swedish)
art. - best. artikel
adv. - ju... desto, så mycket
pref. - teo-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
这, 那, 这些, 那些

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
det. - 這, 那, 這些, 那些

한국어 (Korean)
1.
det. - 그, ~이라는 것, ~의 사람들

2.
adv. - 그만큼, ~하면 할수록, 오히려 더

日本語 (Japanese)
art. - その, …というもの, …年代, …につき
adv. - ますます

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(أداة) لام التعريف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
det. - ‮ה-, ה"א היידוע‬
adv. - ‮ככל ש-, במידה ש-‬

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