Editing The

{{short description|Definite article in English}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{italic title}}
{{hatnote group|
{{technical reasons|prefix=yes|the #|the band|The No. 1s{{!}}The #1s|the political movement|The Resistance (American political movement){{!}}The #Resistance}}
{{Other uses|The (disambiguation)}}
}}
{{wiktionary}}
{{English grammar}}

'''''The''''' is a grammatical [[Article (grammar)|article]] in [[English language|English]], denoting [[noun]]s that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the [[definite article]] in English. ''The'' is the [[Most common words in English|most frequently used word]] in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://norvig.com/mayzner.html|title = English Letter Frequency Counts: Mayzner Revisited|last = Norvig|first = Peter}}</ref> It is derived from gendered articles in [[Old English]] which combined in [[Middle English]] and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender.{{efn|''masculine'', ''feminine'', or ''neuter''.}} The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers.{{efn|such as [[French language|French]], which uses {{lang|fr|le}} for masculine singular, {{lang|fr|la}} for feminine singular, and {{lang|fr|les}} for plural. Before a vowel or mute ''h'', {{lang|fr|le}} and {{lang|fr|la}} become {{lang|fr|l'}} as in {{lang|fr|l'hôpital}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kurbegov |first=Eliane |title=French Grammar Drills |url=https://archive.org/details/frenchgrammardri0000kurb_2007 |url-access=registration |year=2007 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Contemporary |isbn=978-0-07-147513-6 |ref={{sfnRef|Kurbegov}} |pages=3, 4 |via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Further information: {{slink|French_articles_and_determiners#Definite_article}}}}

== Pronunciation ==
In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as {{IPAc-en|ð|ə|audio=En-us-the-unstressed.ogg}} (with the [[voiced dental fricative]] {{IPA|/ð/}} followed by a [[schwa]]) when followed by a [[consonant]] sound, and as {{IPAc-en|ð|iː|audio=En-us-the-stressed.ogg}} (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''[[thee]]'') when followed by a vowel sound or used as an [[Weak and strong forms in English|emphatic form]].<ref name=mw>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the|work=Merriam Webster Online Dictionary|title=the – definition}}</ref>

Modern [[American English|American]] and [[New Zealand English]] have an increasing tendency to limit usage of {{IPA|/ðiː/}} pronunciation and use {{IPA|/ðə/}}, even before a vowel.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ladefoged|first1=Peter|author-link=Peter Ladefoged|last2=Johnson|first2=Keith|year=2010|title=A Course in Phonetics|edition=6th|place=Boston|publisher=Wadsworth|page=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hay|first1=Jennifer|year=2008|title=New Zealand English|url=https://archive.org/details/newzealandenglis00hayj|url-access=limited|place=Edinburgh|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/newzealandenglis00hayj/page/n56 44]}}</ref>

Sometimes the word "the" is pronounced {{IPAc-en|'|ð|iː}}, with stress, to emphasise that something is unique: "he is {{em|the}} first", not just "one of the" first.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

== Adverbial ==
{{see also|Wiktionary: the#Etymology 2}}
Definite article principles in English are described under "[[English articles#Use of articles|Use of articles]]". ''The'', as in phrases like "the more the better", has a distinct origin and etymology and by chance has evolved to be identical to the definite article.<ref>"the, adv.1." OED Online. [[Oxford University Press]], March 2016. Web. 11 March 2016.</ref>

==Article==
''The'' and ''that'' are common developments from the same [[Old English language|Old English]] system. Old English had a definite article ''[[:wikt:se#Old English|se]]'' (in the masculine [[grammatical gender|gender]]), ''[[:wikt:seo#Old English|sēo]]'' (feminine), and [[That|''þæt'']] (neuter). In [[Middle English]], these had all [[merger (phonology)|merged]] into ''þe'', the ancestor of the [[Modern English]] word ''the''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=the&allowed_in_frame=0|title=''The'' and ''That'' Etymologies|dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|access-date=18 June 2015}}</ref>

=== ''Ye'' form ===
{{more|Thorn (letter)}}
[[File:The Book of Margery Kempe, Chapter 18 (clip).png|thumb|"... by the grace that god put ..." (Extract from the ''[[The Book of Margery Kempe]]'')]] 
In Middle English, the [[Th (digraph) |digraph {{angbr|th}}]] was written using the letter [[thorn (letter)|thorn]], {{char|þ}}. During the latter Middle English and [[Early Modern English]] periods, thorn (in its common script or [[cursive]] form), came to resemble a ''y'' shape. With the arrival of [[movable type]] printing, the substitution of {{angbr|y}} for {{angbr|Þ}} became ubiquitous, leading to the common ''ye'', as in '[[Ye Olde]] Curiositie Shoppe'. One major reason for this was that {{angbr|y}} existed in the printer's [[Movable type|types]] that [[William Caxton]] and his contemporaries imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, while {{angbr|Þ}} did not.<ref name=Hill>{{cite book |title=The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System |isbn=9780367581565 |chapter=Chapter 25: Typography and the printed English text |first=Will |last=Hill |date=30 June 2020 |chapter-url=https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703215/1/25HillFinalDV.pdf |page=6 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Limited (Sales) |quote=The types used by Caxton and his contemporaries originated in Holland and Belgium, and did not provide for the continuing use of elements of the Old English alphabet such as thorn <þ>, eth <ð>, and yogh <ʒ>. The substitution of visually similar typographic forms has led to some anomalies which persist to this day in the reprinting of archaic texts and the spelling of regional words. The widely misunderstood ‘ye’ occurs through a habit of printer's usage that originates in Caxton's time, when printers would substitute the <y> (often accompanied by a superscript <e>) in place of the thorn <þ> or the eth <ð>, both of which were used to denote both the voiced and non-voiced sounds, /ð/ and /θ/ (Anderson, D. (1969) The Art of Written Forms. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p 169) |access-date=1 December 2022 |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710022857/https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703215/1/25HillFinalDV.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Historically, the article was never pronounced with a ''y'' sound even when it was so written.

The word ''þe'' (''the'') was frequently written as {{char|þͤ}}, a {{angbr|þ}} with a small {{angbr|e}} above it. (Similarly, ''þat'' (modern ''that'') was abbreviated using a {{angbr|þ}} with a small {{angbr|t}} above it, as can be seen in the sample illustrated here.) As a result of the {{angbr|y}} for {{angbr|þ}} substitution practice, the use of a {{angbr|y}} with an {{angbr|e}} above it ({{char|yͤ}},[[File:EME ye.svg|10px]]) style became common. It can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the [[King James Version of the Bible]] (in places such as Romans 15:29) or in the [[Mayflower Compact]].

===Geographic usage===
An area in which the use or non-use of ''the'' is sometimes problematic is with [[toponym|geographic names]]:
*Notable natural landmarks – rivers, seas, mountain ranges, deserts, island groups ([[archipelago]]es), etc., are generally used with a "the" definite article (''the Rhine'', ''the North Sea'', ''the Alps'', ''the Sahara'', ''[[Hebrides|the Hebrides]]''). 
*Continents, individual islands, administrative units, and settlements mostly do not take a "the" article (''Europe'', ''[[Jura, Scotland|Jura]]'', ''Austria'' (but ''the Republic of Austria''), ''Scandinavia'', ''Yorkshire'' (but ''the County of York''), ''Madrid''). 
*Beginning with a common noun followed by ''of'' may take the article, as in ''[[Isle of Wight|the Isle of Wight]]'' or ''[[Isle of Portland|the Isle of Portland]]'' (compare ''Christmas Island''), same applies to names of institutions: ''Cambridge University'', but ''the University of Cambridge''.
*Some place names include an article, such as ''[[the Bronx]]'', ''[[The Oaks, New South Wales|The Oaks]]'', ''[[The Rock, New South Wales|The Rock]]'', ''[[The Birches, County Armagh|The Birches]]'', ''[[The Bog]]'', ''[[The Harrow, County Wexford|The Harrow]]'', ''[[The Rower]]'', ''[[The Swan, County Laois|The Swan]]'', ''[[The Valley, Anguilla|The Valley]]'', ''[[The Farrington]]'', ''[[The Quarter, Anguilla|The Quarter]]'', ''[[The Plains, Virginia|The Plains]]'', ''[[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]]'', ''[[The Forks, Maine|The Forks]]'', ''[[The Village, East Kilbride|The Village]]'', ''[[The Village, Jersey City|The Village]]'' (NJ), ''[[The Village, Oklahoma|The Village]]'' (OK), ''[[The Villages, Florida|The Villages]]'', ''[[Castle Pines Village, Colorado|The Village at Castle Pines]]'', ''[[The Woodlands, Texas|The Woodlands]]'', ''[[The Pas]]'', ''[[Wells-next-the-Sea]]'', ''[[Vatican City|the Vatican]]'', ''[[Tiergarten (park)|the Tiergarten]]'', ''[[The Hyde]]'', ''[[West End of London|the West End]]'', ''[[East End of London|the East End]]'', ''[[The Hague]]'', or ''the City of London'' (but ''[[London]]''). Formerly e.g. ''[[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]'', ''[[Devizes]]'' or ''[[White Plains, New York|White Plains]]''.<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/10/why-do-we-use-definite-articles-for-some-place-names-like-the-hague.html| title = Why is it called The Hague?| journal = Slate| date = 27 October 2009| last1 = Palmer| first1 = Brian}}</ref>
*Generally described singular names, ''the North Island'' (New Zealand) or ''the [[West Country]]'' (England), take an article.

[[Country|Countries]] and territorial regions are notably mixed, most exclude "the" but there are some that adhere to secondary rules:
* Derivations from collective common nouns such as "kingdom", "republic", "union", etc.: ''the Central African Republic'', ''the Dominican Republic'', ''the United States'', ''the United Kingdom'', ''the Soviet Union'', ''the United Arab Emirates'', including most country full names:<ref>{{cite web| url = https://style-guide.europa.eu/en/content/-/isg/topic?identifier=7.1.1-designations-and-abbreviations| title = Countries: Designations and abbreviations to use}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/iso3list/en/|title=FAO Country Profiles|website=www.fao.org}}</ref> ''the Czech Republic'' (but ''Czechia''), ''the Russian Federation'' (but ''Russia''), ''the Principality of Monaco'' (but ''Monaco''), ''the State of Israel'' (but ''Israel'') and ''the Commonwealth of Australia'' (but ''Australia'').<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.cambridge.org/grammarandbeyond/newsletter/2011/11/using-the-with-the-names-of-countries| title = Using 'the' with the Names of Countries}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://style-guide.europa.eu/en/content/-/isg/topic?identifier=annex-a5-list-countries-territories-currencies| title = List of Countries, Territories and Currencies}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65aa8531698722000d374130/FCDO_Geographical_Names_Index_Jan2024.csv/preview| title = Country names| date = 25 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/geonames/| title = UNGEGN World Geographical Names}}</ref>
* Countries in a plural noun: ''[[Netherlands|the Netherlands]]'', ''[[Falkland Islands|the Falkland Islands]]'', ''[[Faroe Islands|the Faroe Islands]]'', ''[[Cayman Islands|the Cayman Islands]]'', ''[[Philippines|the Philippines]]'', ''[[Comoros|the Comoros]]'', ''[[Maldives|the Maldives]]'', ''[[Seychelles|the Seychelles]]'', ''[[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]],'' and ''[[the Bahamas]]''.
*Singular derivations from "island" or "land" that hold administrative rights – ''[[Greenland]]'', ''[[England]]'', ''[[Christmas Island]]'' and ''[[Norfolk Island]]'' – do not take a "the" definite article. 
* Derivations from mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc., are sometimes used with an article, even for singular (''the Lebanon'', ''the Sudan'', ''the Yukon'', ''the Congo'').<ref>Swan, Michael ''How English Works'', p. 25</ref> This usage is in decline, [[The Gambia]] remains recommended whereas use of ''the Argentine'' for [[Argentina]] is considered old-fashioned. [[Ukraine]] is occasionally referred to as ''the Ukraine'', a usage that was common during the 20th century and during [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet rule]], but this is considered incorrect and possibly offensive in modern usage.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-06-07 |title=Ukraine or the Ukraine: Why do some country names have 'the'? |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18233844 |access-date=2022-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Steinmetz |first=Katy |date=2014-03-05 |title=Ukraine, Not the Ukraine: The Significance of Three Little Letters |url=https://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mellen |first=Ruby |date=2019-10-01 |title=It's Ukraine, not 'the' Ukraine. And Ukrainians want you to get it right. |language=en-US |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/01/its-ukraine-not-ukraine-ukrainians-want-you-get-it-right/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> ''[[Sudan]]'' (but ''the Republic of the Sudan'') and ''[[South Sudan]]'' (but ''the Republic of South Sudan'') are written nowadays without the article.

===Trademark===
[[Ohio State University]] registered a [[trademark]] allowing the university to use "THE" on casual and athletic clothing. The university, often referred to as "The Ohio State University", had used "THE" on clothing since 2005, but took steps to register the trademark in August 2019 after the [[Marc Jacobs]] company attempted to do the same. In August 2021 Ohio State and Marc Jacobs agreed the [[Luxury goods|high-end]] fashion retailer could use "THE" on its merchandise, which was different from what the university would sell. Still, the university took almost an additional year to convince the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] that the use of "the" was "more than ... ornamental".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2022/06/22/ohio-state-secures-trademark-word-the-clothing/7699879001/|title=Ohio State University secures trademark for use of the word 'THE' on clothing|last=Skubby|first=Aaron|work=[[The Columbus Dispatch]]|date=June 22, 2022|access-date=June 25, 2022}}</ref>

===Abbreviations===
The word "The" itself, capitalised, is used as an abbreviation in [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries for the honorific title "The Right Honourable", as in e.g. "The Earl Mountbatten of Burma", short for "The Right Honourable Earl Mountbatten of Burma", or "The Prince Charles".<ref>'The Prefix "The"'. In ''Titles and Forms of Address'', 21st ed., pp. 8–9. A & C Black, London, 2002.</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Merriam-Webster|The}}

[[Category:English grammar]]
[[Category:English words]]