Definite Article: The

Your lunch is on the table.(there’s only one table in the room.)

I’m going to the baker’s.( we all know which shop I’m referring to.)

I gave it to the man.( there was only one man there.)

The present which  he gave you cost a lot of money.

Reference to somebody or something definite.

If a noun is followed b who, which , that whom , whose , it will nearly always take the definite article

The sun is shining

My bedroom is at the front of the house

The beginning of the film was very odd.

Reference to things which are unique.

I met a man yesterday who told me that he was looking for a job. He was young and well-dressed. I told the man  that I could help him

There was a cat in my garden.When it heard me , the cat ran away.

Reference to a person or object already referred to.

He is the most unusual man I’ve ever seen.

It was the easiest exam I’d ever taken.

With superlatives.

The more you eat the fatter you’ll get.

The sooner we arrive the happier we’ll be.

Fixed Expressions.

The English drink a lot of tea .

Both the Russians and the Americans have sent men into space.

People say that the French eat a lot of frogs and snails.

Reference to a nation as a whole .

( the + adjectives)

They are collecting money to help the blind/the deaf/the sick/the disabled …

The rich should help the poor.

We must respect the dead.

Reference to a certain category of people.

• The United States of America
• The Philippines
• The Netherlands

• The Atlantic Ocean.
• The Red Sea
• The Thames River

• The Atlas Mountains
• The Himalayas.

• The Hilton Hotel.
• The daily Express
• The Sunday Times

• The United Nations

Names of some countries.

Names of oceans , seas and rivers.

Names of mountain chains.

Names of Hotels.

Names of newspapers.

Names of organizations.