ERRORS IN THE USE OF ARTICLES-2

3. The is used

(a) To point out a person or thing known or already referred to.

E.g. This is the dog I have seen there.


(b) Before singular nouns of which only one exists.

E.g. the sun, the earth, the sky, the moon, the sea, the weather, the east, the year

1939, the universe.

(c) Before the names of rivers, oceans, bays, gulfs, canals, seas etc.

E.g.The Godavary, the Ganges, the Pacific Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the Persian Gulf,

the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Dead Sea.

(d) Before a singualr noun indicating a class.

E.g. The Cuckoo is a lazy bird. (i.e. all cuckoo birds are lazy birds.)

The ant is industrious.

The camel is a very ugly animal.

The cow is very useful.

The dog is faithful animal.

(e) Before the names of some well-known books.

E.g. The Bible, the Koran, the Ramayana, the Vedas, the Iliad, the Odyssey.

(f) Before a noun if it is modified by a phrase of clause that makes it unique.

E.g. The back of the house, the top of the blackboard, the right side of the road, the

books I have on my desk.

(g) Before as adjective in the superlative degree.

E.g. He is the wisest man.

She is the most beautiful woman.

(h) Before an adjective used as a noun.

E.g. The rich should help the poor.

The young should respect the old.

The valiant never taste death but one.

(i) Adverbially in sentences like the following:

The more, the merrier.

The larger the number, the greater the strength.

The more common a thing is, the less we think of it.

The more he has, the more he wants.

The more he reads, the less he understands.

The older you grow, the wiser you become.

(j) Before the names of ranges of mountains:

The Himalayas, the Alps.

(k) Before the names of groups of islands:

The Andamans, the Nicobar Islands, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the West

Indies.

Note:- The is not used before the names of single islands, individual peaks and

mountains.

E.g. Ceylon, Mount Everest, Mount Etna, Knchaen Ganga.

(l) When the initials are used, The must be retained.

E.g. the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R., the U.N.O., the W.H.O., the I.A.S., the U.P.P.S.C., the

S.R., the C.R., the N.C.C., the Sudan, the Punjab, the Cango, the Sahara, but South

Africa, South India, etc.

(m) When we think of a thing as the best of its kind, the may be used.

E.g. This is the book on the subject.

He is the man for the job.

(n) The is used with the names of ships.

E.g. the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabethan, the I.A.S. Mysore.

(o) The is used with an adjective equivalent to an abstract noun.

E.g.the sublime and the beautiful (sublimity and beauty).

(p) The is also used with the names of inventions.

E.g. The Telephone is a most useful invention.

We do not know who invented the Wheel.

(p) The is used with nouns expressing a unit.

E.g.This car goes thirty miles to the gallon (i.e.) to each gallon of petrol.

Our gardener is paid by the hour (i.e) so much for each for each hour’s work.