The

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1 English
2 Murrinh-Patha

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English

Rank of this word in the English language, from analyzing texts from Project Gutenberg.
N/A	N/A	N/A	#1: the	of	and	to

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Etymology

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

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Pronunciation

(stressed)
AHD: thē, IPA: /ðiː/, SAMPA: /Di:/
Image:Loudspeaker.png Audio (US)^{?, file}
(unstressed)
AHD: thə, IPA: /ðə/, SAMPA: /D@/ (but see notes below)
Image:Loudspeaker.png Audio (CA)^{?, file}
Image:Loudspeaker.png Audio (US)^{?, file}

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Definite article

the

Definite grammatical article that implies necessarily that the entity it articulates is presupposed; something already assumed as existing. Compare I'm reading a book with I'm reading the book.
The word "the" is the most common word in the English language.
The men, the women, the boy and the girl watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.
When stressed, indicates that the object in question is considered to be the best or the only one worthy of attention.
That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.
With an adjectival noun, indicates all persons to whom the adjectival noun applies.
Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
With a superlative, indicates the person or thing to which the superlative applies.
That apple pie was the best.
Used an an alternative to a possessive pronoun before body parts.
A stone hit him on the head. ( = "A stone hit him on his head.")
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.")

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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 ... sovereignity).
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).

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Derived terms

nevertheless

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Translations

article

Afrikaans: die
Albanian: -a, -i
Amuzgo: i' s., eⁿ' pl.
Arabic: -ال (ʔal-)
Aragonese: o m., a f., os m. pl., as f. pl.
Basque: -a
Breton: al, an, ar
Catalan:
- (m singular forms) el, lo, es, so (after amb: with)
- (f singular forms) la, sa
- (m plural forms) els, es, sos (after amb: with), ets (before vowel)
- (f plural forms) les, ses
- (before a vowel) l' m and f singular, s' m and f singular
Chinese: classifiers are used as the definite article in some cases
Danish: en c., et n., de pl.
Dutch: de m. & f. & pl., het n.
Esperanto: la
Finnish: not used; a demonstrative pronoun may be used for emphasis, but generally nothing is needed
French: le m., la f., les pl.
Frisian: de, it
Georgian: not used
German:
- der m nominative, die f nominative, das n nominative
- des -es m genitive, der f genitive, des -es n genitive
- dem -(e) m dative, der f dative, dem -(e) n dative
- den m accusative, die f accusative, das n accusative
- die m plural nominative, die f plural nominative, die n plural nominative
- der m plural genitive, der f plural genitive, der n plural genitive
- den -n m plural dative, den f plural dative, den -n n plural dative
- die m plural accusative, die f plural accusative, die n plural accusative
Greek (Ancient):
- ὁ m nominative, τὸν m accusative, τοῦ m genitive, τῷ m dative
- οἱ m nominative plural, τοὺς m accusative plural, τῶν m genitive plural, τοῖς m dative plural
- ἡ f nominative, τήν f accusative, τῆς f genitive, τῇ f dative
- αἱ f nominative plural, τάς f accusative plural, τῶν f genitive plural, ταῖς f dative plural
- τὸ n nominative, τὸ n accusative, τοῦ n genitive, τῷ n dative
- τὰ n nominative plural, τὰ n accusative plural, τῶν n genitive plural, τοῖς n dative plural

Greek (Modern):
- Nominative: ο m. (o), η f. (i), το n. (to); οι m. and f. pl. (oi), τα pl. pl. (ta)
- Accusative: τον m. (ton), την f. (tin), το n. (to) τους m. pl. (tus), τις f. pl., τα n. pl. (ta)
- Genitive: του m. and n. (tu), της f. (tis), των m., f. and n. pl. (ton)
Hawaiian: ka, ke s.; na pl.
Hebrew: ‏ה‎ (h-)
Hungarian: a when followed by consonant, az when followed by vowel
Icelandic:
- -inn m. s., -in f. s., -it n. s.
- -nar m. pl., -nir f. pl., -in n. pl.
Indonesian: si, sang
Interlingua: le
Irish:
- an nominative singular, na nominative plural
- an m genitive singular, na f genitive singular, na genitive plural
- an dative singular, na dative plural
Italian: il or lo (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see lo for details) m., la f.; i or gli (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see gli for details) m. pl. , le f. pl.
Japanese: not used
Korean: not used
Latin: not used
Maori: te s., nga plural
Lithuanian: not used
Norwegian:
- singular: -en m.c., -a f.}, -et n.
- plural: -ene m.f.c., -a/-ene n.
Novial: li
Old English: se m., sēo f., þæt n.
Polish: not used
Portuguese: o m., a f., os m. pl., as f. pl.
Romanian: in form of suffixes added at the end of the word: -ul m, singular, -a f singular, -i m. pl. , -le f. pl.; neuter gender words use the masculine form in the singular and the feminine form in the plural
Russian: not used
Samoan: le s., e plural
Sicilian: lu m., la f.; li m, f plural
Spanish: el m., la f., los m. pl., las f. pl., lo n.
Swedish: uses articles and/or suffixes at the same time; suffixes are always, and articles are only, needed before an adjective
- articles: den common, f, m, det n singular; de plural
- suffixes: -n, -en, -t, -et s.; -en, -na plural
Tongan: te
Turkish: not used; a word not preceded by bir is implicitly definite
Welsh: 'r, yr, y
Yiddish: דער m. (der), די f. (di), דאָס n. (das)

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"

French: les + plural noun
Greek: ο m. (o), η f. (i), το n. (to); οι m,f pl (oi), τα n. pl. (ta)

Italian: i or gli (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see gli for details) m. + plural noun, le f. + plural noun
Portuguese: o m., a f., os m. pl., as f. pl.
Spanish: los m. pl., las f. pl.

with a superlative

French: le m., la f., les plural
Greek: ο m. (o), η f. (i), το n. (to); οι m,f pl (oi), τα n. pl. (ta)

Italian: il or lo (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see lo for details) m., la f.; i or gli (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see gli for details) m. pl. , le f. pl.
Spanish: el m., la f., los m. pl., las f. pl., lo n.

used as an alternative to a possessive pronoun before body parts

French: le m., la f., les plural
Greek: στον m. (ston), στη f. (sti), στο n. (sto); στους m. pl. (stous), στις f. pl. (stis), στα n. pl. (sta)

Italian: il or lo (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see lo for details) m., la f.; i or gli (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see gli for details) m. pl. , le f. pl.
Spanish: el m., la f., los m. pl., las f. pl.

used with the name of a member of a class to refer to all things in that class

French: le m., la f., les plural
Greek: ο m. (o), η f. (i), το n. (to); οι m,f p (oi), τα n. pl. (ta)

Italian: il or lo (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see lo for details) m., la f.; i or gli (depending on the initial sound of the word following: see gli for details) m. pl. , le f. pl.
Spanish: el m., la f., los m. pl., las f. pl.

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Adverb

the

Used with comparatives of adjectives or of adverbs to form adverbial phrases.
The hotter the better.
The more I think about it, the weaker it looks.
It was a difficult time, but I'm the wiser for it.

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