the
- 1Used before a noun to show that it is clear exactly which person or thing is meant.
Like pointing at something with your finger so everyone knows which one you mean.
Can you turn off the light before you leave?
I put your keys on the kitchen table.
UsageUsually leave it out when you talk about things in general: Life is short.
- 2Used before words like best, first or better to point to just one thing, as in the tallest girl.
She was the first person to arrive.
That is the funniest joke I know.
Note
- 3Used before the name of something there is only one of, such as the sun.
At night we looked up at the moon.
Everyone in the world needs clean water.
Note
- 4Used before a noun for the usual or nearest example of it, such as the station or the doctor.
I'll call you in the morning.
She took the bus to the airport.
UsageSay go to the doctor, but go to school and go to bed.
Note
- 5Used before a singular noun to talk about all things of that kind.
In India the tiger is a protected animal.
Farmers say the fox is cleverer than the dog.
UsageSay the tiger is, or tigers are.
Note
- 6Used in sayings and idioms before a common object or role, like 'the bush' in 'beat around the bush'.
Stop beating around the bush and tell me.
Families feel the pinch when prices rise.
UsageKeep the in the saying: feel the pinch.
Note
Less common meanings
- 7Used before a describing word to mean all people of that kind, as in the poor, the young or the Japanese.
This charity gives free meals to the poor.
A good teacher helps the weak as well as the strong.
UsageSay the poor are, with no s on poor.
Note
- 8Used with words like more or sooner to show that as one thing changes, another changes too.
Like two ends of a seesaw: push one and the other moves with it.
The sooner we leave, the sooner we arrive.
The harder she studied, the more she remembered.
UsageSay the sooner the better.
Note
- 9Used before a describing word to make it name an idea or a kind of thing, as in "the unknown".
Many people are afraid of the unknown.
He always tries to do the impossible.
UsageSay the unknown is, with is.
- 10Used before a family name in the plural to mean the whole family.
We are having dinner with the Smiths tonight.
Are the Johnsons coming to the party?
UsageWrite the Smiths, with no apostrophe.
- 11Said with stress to mean the famous one, or the best or most important one, as in 'the Serena Williams?'
Forget other phones. This is the phone to buy right now.
If you like fish, that is the restaurant to go to.
UsageSay it strongly, like thee.
Note
- 12Used instead of 'my', 'his', or 'your' before a body part or family member.
The ball hit him on the nose.
Come in, sit down. How's the family?
UsageSay hit him on the nose.
- 13Used before a word like better or wiser to say whether something changed because of it, as in 'none the wiser'.
He fell off his bike but was none the worse for it.
After the talk we were all the wiser.
UsageSay all the better for it or none the wiser.
Note
- 14Used before a nickname in a joking, friendly way, as in 'how's the Sal?'
Morning! How's the little guy feeling today?
There he is! How's the big man doing today?
UsageOften used in greetings: How's the champ?
- 15Used before words like 'most' or 'best' after a verb, meaning more than any other person or thing.
Of all the children, she laughed the loudest.
He works the hardest of anyone I know.
UsageYou can say ran the fastest or ran fastest.
Note
- 16For each, as in 'ten cents the pound', an old way of giving prices.
Apples sold at a penny the pound.
The rent was forty dollars the month.
UsageToday people say a or per: a dollar a pound.
Similarper
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of the apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origins
From Old English, where it was a demonstrative pronoun meaning "the" or "that". It comes from older Germanic and Indo-European words, and is related to German "der" and Dutch "de".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The derives from an Old English demonstrative pronoun meaning the or that. en.wiktionary.org
- Its ancestry extends through older Germanic and Indo-European forms. en.wiktionary.org
- The is related to German der and Dutch de. en.wiktionary.org
From Old English, probably an instrumental form of the demonstrative pronoun "sē" ("that"), meaning something like "by that".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- This sense comes from Old English, probably an instrumental form of the demonstrative sē ('that'), with the meaning 'by that'. en.wiktionary.org