When To Use 'The'

Have you ever gotten confused over whether to use "the" or "a/an?" This is a very common problem with English learners. What causes this problem is usually because there is no such thing in many other languages. It can also get quite complicated and tricky to understand! If we cover everything in this topic it will just confuse you, so we'll begin with the basics of how to use "the."

Take a look at the example above of the sun. The word "Sun" is a noun. It is a noun for one single thing (sun, chair, car). This is called singular noun. Singular nouns should always have an "article" before it to provide us with more detail of the noun.

This is what "the" and "a/an" is. They are known as "articles," used before a singular noun. We can divide them into "definite" and "indefinite." (If you want to know the difference between "a" and "and," please refer to the previous lesson here.) 

When we are talking about one specific noun, we use "the".
When we are talking about one noun in general, we use "a" or "an".

This chart below should help you

Still confused? Think about this:

When you look at the sky, there are many many clouds but there is only one sun. So we use "the sun" because there is only one sun. It's always specific and clear which one it is!

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Be aware that there are also many times where a singular noun does not need an article like "the." For example, names. I never need to say "the Jenny." We can continue the next part of this topic some other day before you get more and more confused!