Welcome to your Introduction to THE lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• Unique things
• Our surroundings
• “The same”
• Public places
• TV and radio
• Meals
• Noun + number
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
Unique things
We use “the” when the thing we are talking about is unique:
“Have you seen the moon tonight? It’s really bright.”
“What’s the biggest waterfall in the world?“
“Paris is the capital of France.”
“A” and “an” are used to say what type of thing something is:
“Spain is a European country.”
“The restaurant where we had dinner wasn’t a very expensive place.”
Our surroundings
We say things like “the sea” “the sky” “the mountains” etc:
“I dropped my keys on the floor.”
“I would hate to live in the mountains.”
“Look at the stars, they’re beautiful.“
We can say the word “space” with or without “the” but the meaning changes:
“He would love to go to space.”
“I tried to park my car, but the space was too small.”
(parking space)
“The same”
We use “the” with the word “same”:
“We have the same thing for breakfast every morning.”
“Your bag is the same as mine!”
Public places
We say “the cinema”, “the market”, “the theatre” etc:
“Tonight we’re going to the cinema.”
“I have to go to the market and get some tomatoes.”
TV and radio
We use “television” without the, but “radio” with the:
“I don’t listen to the radio anymore, I watch television instead.”
Meals
We don’t use “the” with meals:
“What did she have for breakfast?”
“I’m having sausages for dinner!”
Noun + number
We don’t use “the” with “noun + number”:
“The plane will be arriving at gate three.”
“I take size fifty shoes.”
“You’ll find the answer on page twenty-nine.”
