Look at these examples to see when the is and isn't used.
I'm going to bed.
I walk to work.
My children are going to start school.
I visited the school yesterday.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
Here are some ways we use articles in common phrases and place names.
Common phrases
We don't usually use an article in expressions with bed, work and home.
go to bed / be in bed
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work
go home / be at home / get home / stay at home
We also don't normally use an article in expressions with school, university, prison and hospital.
start school / go to school / be at school
go to university / be at university
be sent to prison / go to prison / be in prison
go to hospital / be in hospital
But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient, etc.
My son has started school now. I went to the school to meet his teacher.
I went to the prison a lot when I was a social worker.
I'm at the hospital. My sister has just had a baby.
Place names
We don't normally use an article for continents, most countries, cities, towns, lakes, mountains or universities. So, we say:
Africa, Asia, Europe
India, Ghana, Peru, Denmark
Addis Ababa, Hanoi, New York, Moscow
Lake Victoria, Lake Superior, Lake Tanganyika
Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus
Cardiff University, Harvard University, Manchester University
Some countries are different. Country names with United have the. There are other countries which are exceptions too. So, we say:
the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America
the Bahamas, the Gambia
Seas and oceans, mountain ranges and rivers have the:
the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean
the Andes, the Himalayas, the Alps
the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze
Universities with of in the title also have the:
the University of Cape Town, the University of Delhi, the University of Tokyo
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
I wonder why many articles use THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC instead of COVID 19 PANDEMIC. Could you explain it to me?
Thank you!
Hi Tiana Truong,
It's because in the phrase "the Covid-19 pandemic", the word "Covid-19" specifies which pandemic you are referring to, so it's a specific description. We can talk about other pandemics in the same way, with "the" (e.g. the bird flu pandemic).
If you remove "pandemic" from the phrase, then you should also remove "the" because "Covid-19" is a proper noun, e.g.:
I hope that helps!
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Grammar skills can be develop by yourself also practice
Article 2
3.
The University of Nottingham is in
The United Kingdom.
So how using The next to United Kingdom is wrong here in this context ?
Hello DeepMS,
The correct answer here is 'The University of Nottingham is in the United Kingdom'. Note that the first is 'The' (with capital 'T') and the second is 'the' (with lowercase 't'). Capitalisation is important in English.
If I've not answered your question, could you please rephrase it? I wasn't sure I understood it.
Please also note that after you press Check Answers, you can press the See Answers button to see what the correct answers are.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Excuse me sir. In the lesson 'Articles 1' in 8'th sentence of second test, both of 'The' and 'the' are acceptable. If you follow a unique rule, so you should change correct answer in that lesson or this lesson.
Anyway, thanks for your lessons. They are great and easy to understand and learn.
Hello morteza.snet,
That's a good point. I've changed the answer to Articles 1, Grammar test 2, question 8 so that only 'The' is correct.
Thanks for pointing out this inconsistency.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sokhom,
Do you mean this question about the phrase species of plant? There's a reply to your message from Kirk that I hope will answer your question, but feel free to ask here if anything's unclear. :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team