ENGLISH II

Use and omission of “The”

USO Y OMISIÓN DEL ARTÍCULO DETERMINADO

“The” se usa en inglés:

1.- Para referirse a algo que ya ha sido mencionado anteriormente:

Ejemplo: A woman came yesterday. The woman wanted to talk to you

2.– En frases en las que se identifica el objeto o la persona aludidas:

Ejemplo: The man who wrote the book is very famous

“Which car did you scratch?” The red one
My house is the one with a blue door

3.– Para referirse a objetos que consideramos únicos:

Ejemplo: the sun, the moon, the world

4.– Delante de superlativos y números ordinales:

Ejemplo: the highest building, the first page

5.– Delante de adjetivos para referirse a todo un grupo de personas:

Ejemplo: *the Japanese, the old (especialmente: the rich, the poor, the
blind, the deaf, the sick, the dead, the unemployed …)

6.– Con nombres de zonas geográficas y océanos:

Ejemplo: the Caribbean, the Sahara, the Atlantic

7.– Con décadas o grupos de años:

Ejemplo: She grew up in the seventies

ENGLISH II
Use and omission of “The”

“The” se omite en inglés:

1.– Con nombres contables en plural usados de forma general:

Ejemplo: Musicians must practise a great deal

Newspapers can contain valuable information
Men and women don’t have equal rights
Are immigrants treated with respect?

But Coast Guards caught the immigrants who arrived by boat.

2.– Con nombre incontables en singular usados de forma general:

Ejemplo: Information is often valuable

Butter is fattening
Courage and honesty are admirable qualities
Sunlight and water are usually required for plants to grow
Racism exists all over the world

But The racism I experienced was intolerable

3.– Con nombres de idiomas:

French is spoken in Tahiti
English uses many words of Latin origin

4.– Con nombres de comidas: lunch, dinner, breakfast y supper

Lunch is at midday. Dinner is in the evening

5.– Con títulos y nombres:

Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas
Dr. Watson

6.– Con nombres de ciudades, calles, estaciones y aeropuertos:

Victoria Station is in the centre of London
Can you direct me to Bond Street?
They're flying from Heathrow.

7.– Con expresiones temporales: last, next, days of the week …

Last year I visited England
The new school term starts on Monday

8.- Con nombres de asignaturas, de ciencias, de sustancias, de deportes y de colores

I enjoy maths but I don’t like Biology
She plays badminton and basketball
I don’t like red or white
Iron is hard
ENGLISH II
Use and omission of “The”

9.– Con ciertas expresiones de lugar cuando indican que se está realizando lo propio
de ese lugar:

At / from home
To / at / in / from church
To / in / from class
To / in / into / out of hospital, bed, prison
To / at school, university
To / at work

Ejemplos: I am going to work now

What did you learn at school today?
He had an accident. He had to go to hospital
Why is he in prison? What did he do?

ATENCIÓN: Jack had an accident. He had to go to hospital. He is still in hospital now.

Jill went to the hospital to visit him (Ella solo fue de visita)

The children are at school today

Mr Kelly went to the school to meet his children’s teacher.
(Sólo fue a hablar con el profesor)

10. Cuando se emplean nombres de partes del cuerpo que se utilizan con el verbo to
have .

My daughter has blue eyes / Mi hija tiene los ojos azules

ENGLISH II
Use and omission of “The”

EXERCISES CHOOSE THE CORRECT FORM, WITH OR WITHOUT THE.

1. The children / Children learn easily what they see

2. In Britain coffee / the coffee is much worse than tea / the tea

3. The life / Life would be very difficult without the water / water

4. Chinese / The Chinese is a difficult language

5. St. Paul’s / The St. Paul’s cathedral is one of the biggest in world / the world

6. The freedom / Freedom is one of the pillars of modern society / the modern
society

7. Last Sunday morning I went to the church / church with my girlfriend

8. Are you coming with me to hospital / the hospital to see Peter?

9. I am very fond of the fish / fish

10. Are British people / the British people friendly?

11. I like working with the children / children

12. Did you like the wine / wine we had with our meal the last night / last night?

13. Do you know the children / children who live next door?

14. After the work / work, he usually goes to the gym / to gym

15. John likes to read in the bed / bed before going to sleep

16. The Hyde Park / Hyde Park is very famous all over the world / world

17. Trafalgar Square / The Trafalgar Square is in London

18. My son studies at London University / the London University

19. My grandmother likes flowers / the flowers very much

20. The people / People I travelled with were all Italian

21. Chairs / The chairs were a luxury item in ancient times / the ancient times

22. The unemployed / Unemployed hope to find new jobs quickly.

23. Most students / The most students ask questions

24. Swimming / The swimming is my favourite sport

25. English people / The English people are very fond of the French cooking / French
cooking
ENGLISH II
Use and omission of “The”

KEY
1. Children learn easily what they see

2. In Britain coffee is much worse than tea

3. Life would be very difficult without water

4. Chinese is a difficult language

5. St Paul’s cathedral is one of the biggest in the world

6. Freedom is one of the pillars of modern society

7. Last Sunday morning I went to church with my girlfriend

8. Are you coming with me to the hospital to see Peter?

9. I am very fond of fish

10. Are British people friendly?

11. I like working with children

12. Did you like the wine we had with our meal last night?

13. Do you know the children who live next door?

14. After work, he usually goes to the gym

15. John likes to read in bed before going to sleep

16. Hyde Park is very famous all over the world

17. Trafalgar Square is in London

18. My son studies at London University

19. My grandmother likes flowers very much

20. The people I travelled with were all Italian

21. Chairs were a luxury item in ancient times

22. The unemployed hope to find new jobs quickly.

23. Most students ask questions

24. Swimming is my favourite sport

25. English people are very fond of French cooking