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the

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See also thé, thè, thẻ, thê, thề, thể, thế, and þe
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[ English

[ Etymology

From Old English demonstrative pronoun þe, a late variant of se, originally masculine nominative, but in Middle English superceding all previous Old English forms (se, sēo, þæt).

[ Pronunciation

[ Article

the

  1. Definite grammatical article that implies necessarily that the entity it articulates is presupposed; something already mentioned, or completely specified later in the same sentence, or assumed already completely specified. Compare I’m reading a book with I’m reading the book.
    The street in front of your house. (But compare a street in Paris)
    The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.
  2. When stressed, indicates that the object in question is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention.
    That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.
  3. Indicates all persons to whom an adjectival noun applies.
    Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
  4. With a superlative, indicates the person or thing to which the superlative applies.
    That apple pie was the best.
  5. Used as an alternative to a possessive pronoun before body parts.
    A stone hit him on the head. ( = “A stone hit him on his head.”)
  6. Used with the name of a member of a class to refer to all things in that class.
    The cat is a solitary creature. ( = “All cats are solitary creatures.”)

[ Quotations

[ Usage notes

Usage notes

The word the is pronounced /ðiː/ whenever it is pronounced as a distinct word, e.g.:

  • When it is used for emphasis (This is the hospital for heart surgery.).
  • When the speaker pauses between the and the next word (the … sovereignty).
  • In many but not all dialects, when the next word begins with a vowel (the onion) (compare with a vs. an).

The word is generally not pronounced distinctly when attached to a word beginning with a consonant, in which case the e becomes a schwa or is dropped entirely. In dialects that do not pronounce the distinctly before a vowel, a glottal stop is generally inserted (e.g., the US in the US festival would still be pronounced differently from thus in thus festival seating should be outlawed).

[ Trivia

  • The word “the” is the most common word in the English language.

[ Derived terms

[ Translations

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Article
Stressed, indicating that the object in question is the only one worthy of attention
With an adjectival noun, as in “the hungry” to mean “hungry people”