{"id":890,"date":"2014-10-15T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=890"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:58","slug":"the-amazing-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-amazing-the\/","title":{"rendered":"The Amazing “The”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe,\u201d as you know, is a very common word in the<\/em> English language. And this word is a wonder to behold! How can one tiny word be everywhere? And how can using this one tiny word be so tricky ?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u201d belongs to a special group of words known as \u201carticles<\/a>\u201d or \u201cdeterminers<\/a>.\u201d (The Magoosh TOEFL Blog<\/a> prefers the term \u201carticle.\u201d) There are six basic rules for the use of \u201cthe.\u201d Let\u2019s take a look at how they work.<\/p>\n

The 6 Rules of “The”<\/h2>\n

Rule 1:<\/em><\/strong><\/u> \u201cThe\u201d can refer to a specific thing that two people in a conversation know about.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Examples:<\/em><\/strong>\n
      \n
    • Please give me the<\/strong> screwdriver at the end of the<\/strong> table.<\/li>\n
    • Don\u2019t the<\/strong> French fries at the<\/strong> restaurant we went to taste great?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Rule 2:<\/em><\/strong><\/u> \u201cThe\u201d refers to a noun that is unique. Any noun labeled by \u201cthe\u201d is special, and not just one of many of the same things.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Examples:<\/em><\/strong>\n
          \n
        • Justin Trudeau is the<\/strong> prime minister of Canada.<\/li>\n
        • The<\/strong> smallest bone in your body is inside your ear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Rule 3:<\/em><\/strong><\/u> \u201cThe\u201d shows the difference between two or more things that are similar, but not exactly the same.<\/p>\n

            \n
          • Examples:<\/em>\n
              \n
            • At the apple orchard, the<\/strong> rotten apples are thrown away. The<\/strong> good apples are sold to customers.<\/li>\n
            • Go to the<\/strong> house on the left, not the<\/strong> house in the middle or the<\/strong> house on the right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Rule 4:<\/em><\/strong><\/u> \u201cThe,\u201d can emphasize or draw attention to a noun, showing that it is very special, important, famous, etc\u2026<\/p>\n

                \n
              • Examples:<\/em>\n
                  \n
                • You\u2019re having lunch with Angelina Jolie? The<\/strong> Angelina Jolie who is a movie star?<\/li>\n
                • This is Main Street. It\u2019s the<\/strong> Main Street, the street I grew up on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  Rule 5:<\/em><\/strong><\/u> This rule is kind of hard, so read carefully.<\/p>\n

                  \u201cThe\u201d is used with the names of some places, and locations. Use \u201cthe\u201d ONLY when both of the following are true about the name of a location or place:<\/p>\n

                  A) The name contains two or more words, and one word is a noun.<\/p>\n

                  B) The noun in the name would be a common noun<\/em> (a noun that is not a name and is not capitalized) if it were alone. For example, the<\/em> United States is a country name. \u201cUnited\u201d is an adjective. \u201cStates\u201d is a noun. \u201cStates,\u201d when used alone, is a common noun, and not the name of something specific.<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  • Examples:<\/em>\n
                      \n
                    • Ireland declared independence from the<\/strong> United Kingdom.<\/li>\n
                    • The<\/strong> Mississippi River runs through New Orleans. (Notice that \u201cOrleans\u201d is a name, and\u00a0<\/em>would not be a common noun on its own; moreover, “New” is an adjective on its own, rather than a noun. \u201cRiver\u201d is a common noun, however. So,\u00a0<\/em>\u201cMississippi River\u201d has \u201cthe\u201d, and \u201cNew Orleans\u201d doesn\u2019t.)<\/em><\/li>\n
                    • The<\/strong> Rocky Mountains are a long mountain range stretching from Canada into the\u00a0<\/strong>United States.<\/li>\n
                    • The<\/strong> 63 Building is a very tall building in Seoul, South Korea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                      It gets more difficult. Rule 5 has some exceptions, times when this rule is not followed. Read on:<\/p>\n

                        \n
                      • Exception 1:<\/strong><\/em> A few specific place names have \u201cthe\u201d even though the location name does not follow the rule.\n
                          \n
                        • Exception 1 example:
                          \n<\/em>The<\/strong> Hague is a city in the Netherlands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                            \n
                          • Exception 2:<\/strong><\/em> Proper nouns for a few kinds of buildings break Rule 5. City districts with the common noun \u201crow\u201d as the main word do not have \u201cthe.” Notable for TOEFL test-takers, buildings with the word \u201chall\u201d in them (a common kind of university campus building) also break this rule. So do the names of schools.\n
                              \n
                            • Exception 2 examples:
                              \n<\/em>Skid Row<\/em> in Los Angeles is a very poor neighborhood.
                              \nAfter I graduated Memorial High School<\/em>, I was accepted into Beloit College<\/em>.
                              \nMark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, went to Harvard University<\/em>.
                              \nI live in a student housing building on campus. My building is Horan Hall<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                              Rule 6:<\/em><\/strong><\/u> Sometimes a \u201cthe\u201d plus a singular noun is used as an example of a bigger group of things. \u201cThe car\u201d can refer to all cars, \u201cthe typical student\u201d can refer to all students, and so on. You can also use a plural noun or a singular noun with determiner “a” or “an” to convey the exact same meaning.<\/p>\n

                                \n
                              • Examples:<\/em>\n
                                  \n
                                • The skunk is a small animal with black and white fur.<\/li>\n
                                • Skunks can spray a powerful, unpleasant smell at people.\u00a0(Plural noun instead of \u00a0singular noun with “the.”)<\/em><\/li>\n
                                • A skunk should be avoided at all costs.\u00a0(“Singular noun with “a” instead of “the.”)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                  All these rules can seem a little scary. But they\u2019re worth remembering. \u201cThe\u201d is a small but important word. Get comfortable with these rules, and you\u2019ll make far fewer mistake in your TOEFL writing and speaking. Below is a simple comic strip that can help you memorize all 6 rules.<\/p>\n

                                  \"The\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                  \u201cThe,\u201d as you know, is a very common word in the English language. And this word is a wonder to behold! How can one tiny word be everywhere? And how can using this one tiny word be so tricky ? \u201cThe\u201d belongs to a special group of words known as \u201carticles\u201d or \u201cdeterminers.\u201d (The Magoosh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Amazing "The" - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-amazing-the\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Amazing "The"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe,\u201d as you know, is a very common word in the English language. And this word is a wonder to behold! How can one tiny word be everywhere? 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}