Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Phil is the right man to explain three facts about the word ‘the’! Give us 60 seconds and we’ll give you the English!

Phil

Hi I’m Phil from BBC Learning English. I’m going to tell you three facts about the.

We use the when referring to a specific thing and both you and the person you’re talking to know which one you mean. Please pass me the milk.

We can see the bottle so we know it’s that one.

Number 2. We don’t use the when talking about something in general. For example, I love chocolate.

Number 3. We don’t use the when it doesn’t matter which thing we’re talking about.

We usually use or an, here. Give me a cup of tea, I don’t care which cup, any cup will do.

Three facts about ‘the’

 We use the when referring to a specific thing and both you and the person you’re talking to know which one you mean.

  • Please pass me the milk – we can see the bottle so we know it’s that one.
  • Don’t use the when talking about something in general. For example I love chocolate.
  • We don’t use the when it doesn’t matter which thing we’re talking about.
    We usually use a or an here. Give me a cup of tea, I don’t care which cup, any cup will do.

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