the
Meanings
- Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun
- The definite grammatical article that shows that the noun phrase that immediately follows it is definitely identifiable...
- ...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or very shortly thereafter.
- ...because it is presumed to be definitely known in context or from shared knowledge.
- Used before a noun designating something considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time.
- Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar.
- Used before a body part, a family member, a pet (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun.
- Precedes a familiar nickname or other term of address.
- Used in many idiomatic expressions and proverbs to refer to common objects, roles, or situations connected with something definite, in the manner of an analogy
- When stressed, indicates that it describes something which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention.
- When stressed, used before the name of a famous person, to distinguish said person from a hypothetical lesser-known person with the same name.
- Used before a noun phrase beginning with superlative or comparative adjective or an ordinal number, indicating that the noun refers to a single item.
- With a comparative or with more and a verb phrase, establishes a correlation with one or more other such comparatives.
- With a comparative, and often with for it, indicates a result more like said comparative. This can be negated with none.
- Beyond all others.
- For each; per.
- Obsolete form of thee.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English þe, from Old English þē m (“the, that”, demonstrative pronoun), a late variant of sē, the s- (which occurred in the masculine and feminine nominative singular only) having been replaced by the þ- from the oblique stem. replaced words, cognates Originally neutral nominative, in Middle English it superseded all previous Old English nominative forms (sē m, sēo f, þæt n, þā pl); sē is from Proto-West Germanic *siz, from Proto-Germanic *sa, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *só. Cognate with Saterland Frisian die (“the”), West Frisian de (“the”), Dutch de (“the”), German Low German de (“the”), German der (“the”), Danish de (“the”), Swedish de (“the”), Icelandic sá (“that”) within Germanic and with Sanskrit स (sá, “the, that”), Ancient Greek ὁ (ho, “the”), Tocharian B se (“this”) among other Indo-European languages.