Mean of word: the | Dunno English Dictionary

the [ t·h·e ]

[

US ðə, ði, ðiː ]

[

UK ðə, ði, ðiː ]

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Grammar

Determiner

Denoting one or more people or things already mentioned or assumed to be common knowledge.

what's the matter?

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Used to refer to a person, place, or thing that is unique.

the Queen

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Denoting a disease or affliction.

The whole idea gives me the creeps.

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(with a unit of time) the present; the current.

Has a caretaker manager in the Premiership ever won manager of the month?

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Used instead of a possessive to refer to someone with whom the speaker or person addressed is associated.

how's the family?

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Used with a surname to refer to a family or married couple.

the Johnsons were not wealthy

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Used before the surname of the chief of a Scottish or Irish clan.

the O'Donoghue

Used to point forward to a following qualifying or defining clause or phrase.

the fuss that he made of her

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(chiefly with rulers and family members with the same name) used after a name to qualify it.

Jack the Ripper

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10.

Used to make a generalized reference to something rather than identifying a particular instance.

he taught himself to play the violin

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11.

Used with a singular noun to indicate that it represents a whole species or class.

they placed the African elephant on their endangered list

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12.

Used with an adjective to refer to those people who are of the type described.

the unemployed

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13.

Used with an adjective to refer to something of the class or quality described.

Ginger and her sister Brigitte are suburban teenagers with a taste for the macabre.

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14.

Used with the name of a unit to state a rate.

These annual levies are only a few cents in the dollar.

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15.

Enough of (a particular thing)

he hoped to publish monthly, if only he could find the money

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16.

(pronounced stressing ‘the’) used to indicate that someone or something is the best known or most important of that name or type.

The Marina is the place to be Easter Sunday if you enjoy quality jazz music.

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17.

Used adverbially with comparatives to indicate how one amount or degree of something varies in relation to another.

The more I learned, the more I found his theories to be flawed.

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18.

(usually all the —) Used to emphasize the amount or degree to which something is affected.

Several of those people left the church, and we are the better for it.

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Origin

Old English se, sēo, thæt, ultimately superseded by forms from Northumbrian and North Mercian thē, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch de, dat, and German der, die, das.

Determiner

Origin

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