When to Use 'The' in English: 6 Rules & 3 Common Mistakes

what's your plan for the holidays I want to go to Sea to the Sea you should use the with C there is most beautiful with the most beautiful you should use the with superlative adjectives okay the most beautiful scene it's uh near the my town near my town with possessive adjectives we don't use the oh I hate this death when do we use it that's a very good question let me show you thank you hello my name is Maddie from POC English and in this lesson we're going to talk about the what is the well there is an article but what's an article well articles are small words that go before nouns or noun phrases in English we have two types of Articles indefinite article a or n and definite article now we use a or n the indefinite articles when we don't know what we are talking about we use the definite article the when we know what we are talking about for example look at these two sentences yesterday I bought an Apple Jack ate the apple in the first sentence I say an apple which Apple did I buy well one apple I don't know exactly which Apple I just picked an apple one apple however when I say Jack ate the apple which Apple did Jack eat well the Apple that I had bought from this Supermarket right I know which Apple so when you don't exactly know what you were talking about we use a or n the indefinite articles however if you know exactly what you're talking about we use the now that was the basic rule there are many many different rules about the in this lesson we're going to talk about them I have divided this lesson into three different parts beginner rules intermediate rules and advanced rules regarding the use of that let's start this lesson with the beginner rules there are two rules for the beginner students rule number one if you know what you are talking about use the otherwise use e or and look at these examples I've been to the doctor I have been to the doctor which doctor my doctor what's his name Dr Jones where's his office well I know right down the street do you know Dr Jones yes he's my doctor so I went to the doctor means I know which doctor look at this one have you fed the dogs have you fed the dogs did you give food to the dogs which dogs our dogs the dogs we have here not all dogs in the world or look at this one could you pass the salt we're having dinner and then I need some salt in my food and I ask you uh sorry could you pass the salt which salt well the salt on the table I know what I'm talking about and when you know what you're talking about use that that was rule number one now rule number two if what you're talking about is the only thing around you we use the because that's the only thing and you and I know what we're talking about for example where is the YouTube play button well it's right there because that's the only one well there are two but if I say the gold play button we're talking about one which is that one so basically if there is only only one of something we use the for example the Sun the Moon the Earth the universe the world the future the government look at these examples I haven't seen the Sun for days I haven't seen the Sun for days or look at this one do you trust the government or look at this some people think that the Earth is flat so far we have learned two rules about the use of that now let's talk about the rules of the intermediate level there are three rules here let's talk about rule number three we use the with superlative adjectives what are superlative adjectives well when you want to make a comparison between more than two things we use superlative adjectives for example the best the biggest the smallest the most expensive the most intelligent the most dangerous these are superlative adjectives now why do we use the with superlative adjectives because when you say the biggest city in the world how many cities are the biggest only one and remember in rule number two we said if there is only one of the thing you were talking about we use the So when you say the biggest city we know what city you were talking about look at these two examples example one I'm the oldest son in my family I am the oldest son in my family how many oldest sons are there in my family one only me so I am the oldest or look at this one he's the tallest boy in our team he is the tallest boy in our team how many tallest boys are there there is only one tallest so the tallest rule number four with these words we always use the first next last same and only five words here look at these examples he was the first student to finish his homework the next TV show is my favorite this was the last time I ever talked to you we went to the same school she is the only girl I love rule number five which is often challenge changing for students because you have to memorize it the can be used or let's say must be used with the names of some places but what places for example the names of the Seas for example the Atlantic or the Atlantic Sea the names of mountain groups like the Himalayas the names of Island groups such as the prince or the prince Islands the names of rivers such as the Nile or the Thames the names of deserts such as the Sahara the Sahara Desert the names of Cinemas such as the playhouse the names of museums such as the Museum of Modern Art or the British Museum and the names of hotels such as the Grand Hotel these are things that you have to memorize okay now there is one last rule I want to talk about and this rule is for advanced students but before talking about this rule there is something I want to tell you do you want to have the summary of this lesson and all my YouTube lessons in the form of one book with 400 Pages you can download My ultimate English book this book has all the summaries of all of my YouTube videos and it has more than 400 pages and the good news this book is free for my YouTube subscribers you can download it from my website but how simply click on the link above my head go to my website type in your name your email address click download and you will receive the link in your inbox enjoy alright and the last rule which is a rule for advanced students whenever a noun has post modification we use that but what is post modification a post-modification is a phrase after a noun beginning with off that limits the noun what do I mean let me show you one example music is very general right so can I say the music no because when you are talking about something in general you cannot use that I like music this is correct I like the music this is not correct however if instead of music I say music of the 1960s I should use that and I should say the music of the 1960s but why look at the phrase after music of the 1960s this phrase begins with off and it limits the word music are we talking about all music no no no no no no we're talking about a limited part of Music which is music of the 1960s I am limiting the noun with a phrase starting with of this is called post modification and whenever we have post modification we should use the let me show you some other examples can I say the butterflies are beautiful no because butterflies is a very general word and if I say butterflies are beautiful I'm speaking generally but if I say the butterflies of Africa I can say that I have to say that because butterflies of Africa is specific I'm talking about certain kinds of butterflies the butterflies of Africa let me tell you another example can I say the people look at this example honesty is very important for the people if I'm talking in general I cannot use the not the people honesty is very important for people but look at this if I say the people of this country is that correct yes because after the word people I have of this country this phrase of this country is limiting the word people so I should say the the people of this country enough with the rules we have learned six rules of when and where to use the now let me tell you about three common mistakes students often make with the use of that common mistake number One never use the if you are talking in general look at this example the elephants can swim very well is this correct well look at the noun elephants are we talking about a particular group of Elephants or elephants in general elephants in general so can I use the no no no no no no elephants can swim very well not the elephants or look at this one the life is complicated the life am I speaking in general about life yes can I use the no life is complicated or look at this one my sister loves the horses the horses which horses horses in general can I use the no no no no no no common mistake number two do not use the with possessive pronouns possessive adjectives or this that these those possessive adjectives are my your his her our their possessive pronouns are mine yours his hers ours theirs you cannot use the with these words for example it is wrong to say this is the my book or this is the your house no no no no no also you can't use it with this that these and those give me the that book no no no no no common mistake number three the last common mistake do not use the with proper nouns look at this sentence the Mary lives in the Switzerland there are two mistakes in this sentence first the Mary Mary is a proper noun it's the name of a person I cannot say the Mary I should say Mary Mistake 2 Switzerland Switzerland is a name of a country it's a proper noun I cannot use the so instead of this sentence I should say Mary lives in Switzerland and one final Point generally with the names of countries we do not use that however with these countries we must use the the USA the UK the UAE the PRC why because these are short forms the USA the United States of America you should use that however for Italy Japan China Brazil do we use the no the Brazil is wrong the Japan is wrong we should say Japan or Brazil and that's it I hope you've enjoyed this lesson don't forget to give this video a thumbs up and click subscribe see

Channel: POC English

Views: 201,425

Keywords: English language, English grammar, grammar rules, common grammar mistakes, articles in English, using 'the' in English, when to use 'the', beginner English, intermediate English, advanced English, English learning, English fluency, improving English, language skills, English education, language mastery, English vocabulary, English communication, language accuracy, language comprehension, language practice, pocenglish, poc english, English with Maddy, english, esl

Id: wPu4P1nEFZ0

Length: 12min 52sec (772 seconds)

Published: Fri May 26 2023