The

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English

Alternative forms

  • ðe (obsolete), þe (obsolete), ẏe (obsolete), ẏe (archaic): variant spelling of the.
  • ye (archaic), (colloquial) ('y' pronunciation is nonstandard in historical Middle English)

Pronunciation

  • (stressed, prevocalic)
  • (unstressed, preconsonantal)
    • enPR: thə, IPA: /ðə/, SAMPA: /D@/ (but see notes below)
    • Audio (CA)noicon(file)
    • Audio (US)noicon(file)
    • Rhymes: (generally not applicable as the unstressed variant is never used to terminate a phrase)
pronunciation 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 … sovereignty).
  • In many but not all dialects, when the next word begins with a vowel sound (the onion) (compare with a vs. an).

The word is generally pronounced indistinctly as /ðə/ or merely /ð/ in other situations, such as when attached to a word beginning with a consonant sound.

"the" vs. "ye"

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old English þē (“the, that”, demonstrative pronoun), a late variant of sē (“that, the”). Originally masculine nominative, in Middle English it superseded all previous Old English forms (sē, sēo, þæt, þā), from Proto-Germanic *sa (“that”), from Proto-Indo-European *só, *to-, *tód (“demonstrative pronoun”). Cognate with Dutch de, die (“the, that”), Low German de, dat (“the, that”), German der, die, das (“the, that”), Danish den (“the, that”), Swedish den (“the, that”), Icelandic það (“that”).

Article

The

  1. Definite grammatical article that implies necessarily that an entity it articulates is presupposed; something already mentioned, or completely specified later in that same sentence, or assumed already completely specified.
    I’m reading the book. (Compare I’m reading a book.)
    The street in front of your house. (Compare A street in Paris.)
    The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.
  2. Used before an object considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time.
    No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe.
    God save the Queen!
  3. With a superlative, it and that superlative refer to one object.
    That apple pie was the best.
  4. Introducing a term to be taken generically; preceding a name of something standing for a whole class.
    • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 536:
      Stern and God-fearing, the Afrikaner takes his religion seriously.
  5. Used before an adjective, indicating all things (especially persons) described by that adjective.
    Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
  6. Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is most usually of concern, or most common or familiar.
    No one in the whole country had seen it before.
    I don't think I'll get to it until the morning.
  7. Used before a body part (especially of someone previously mentioned), as an alternative to a possessive pronoun.
    A stone hit him on the head. (= “A stone hit him on his head.”)
  8. When stressed, indicates that it describes an object which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention.
    That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.


Quotations

Notes

Usage notes (with proper nouns)

The word the precedes proper nouns in a number of cases, although most proper nouns use no article. There are always exceptions. See also Appendix:English proper nouns for more information.

Usage notes (with adjectives)
  • When used before an adjective, which is not followed by a noun, it may refer to a group of people for which the adjective is appropriate:
    • the Scottish = Scots
    • the rich = rich people (considered as a group)

Derived terms

terms derived from the (determiner)

Translations

article
used as an alternative to a possessive pronoun before body parts
this
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”
with a superlative
used with the name of a member of a class to refer to all things in that class

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Old English þȳ (“by that, after that, whereby”), originally the instrumental case of the demonstratives sē (masculine) and þæt (neuter). Cognate with Dutch des te ("the, the more"), German desto ("the, all the more"), Norwegian fordi ("because"), Icelandic því (“because”).

Adverb

The

  1. With a comparative or more and a verb phrase, establishes a parallel with one or more other such comparatives.
    The hotter, the better.
    The more I think about it, the weaker it looks.
    The more money donated, the more books purchased, and the more happy children.
    It looks weaker and weaker, the more I think about it.
  2. With a comparative, and often with for it, indicates a result more like said comparative. This can be negated with none.
    It was a difficult time, but I’m the wiser for it.
    It was a difficult time, and I’m none the wiser for it.
    I'm much the wiser for having had a difficult time like that.

Translations

the + ～comparative, the + comparative
The translations below need to be checked.
Translations to be checked

See also

See also

Statistics

Anagrams

Danish

Noun

The c.

  1. Archaic spelling of te. ("tea")

Interlingua

Pronunciation

Noun

The

  1. tea

Irish

Pronunciation

Adjective

The

  1. Mutated form of te.

Murrinh-Patha

Noun

the

  1. Ear.

See also

  • ye (incorporated noun)

References

  • 2003, Mark Abley, Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages.

Old Saxon

Etymology

Replaced the original masculine and feminine nominative forms from Proto-Germanic *sa, by analogy with the adjective inflection. Compare also Old High German ther, der where the same process occurred.

Pronoun

thē m.

  1. that, that one

Determiner

thē m.

  1. that

Descendants

  • Low Saxon: de

Swedish

Noun

The n.

  1. Alternative spelling of te. (tea)

af:the ar:the az:the ca:the cs:the da:the de:the et:the el:the es:the eo:the fa:the fr:the gl:the ko:the hr:the io:the is:the it:the kk:the ku:the lo:the la:the lv:the lt:the li:the hu:the ml:the mi:the my:the nl:the ja:the no:the pl:the pt:the ru:the simple:the fi:the sv:the ta:the te:the th:the tr:the vi:the zh:the

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