Template:Short description Template:Pp-semi-indef Template:Italic title Template:Hatnote group Template:Sister project Template:English grammar

The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns 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 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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</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.Template:Efn 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.Template:Efn

PronunciationEdit

In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as Template:IPAc-en (with the voiced dental fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}} followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as Template:IPAc-en (homophone of the archaic pronoun thee) when followed by a vowel sound or used as an emphatic form.<ref name=mw>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Modern American and New Zealand English have an increasing tendency to limit usage of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} pronunciation and use {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, even before a vowel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sometimes the word "the" is pronounced Template:IPAc-en, with stress, to emphasise that something is unique: "he is Template:Em first", not just "one of the" first.Template:Cn

AdverbialEdit

Template:See also Definite article principles in English are described under "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>

ArticleEdit

The and that are common developments from the same Old English system. Old English had a definite article Template:Wikt-lang (in the masculine gender), Template:Wikt-lang (feminine), and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (neuter). In Middle English, these had all merged into {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the ancestor of the Modern English word the.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Ye formEdit

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File:The Book of Margery Kempe, Chapter 18 (clip).png
"... by the grace that god put ..." (Extract from the The Book of Margery Kempe)

In Middle English, the [[Th (digraph) |digraph Template:Angbr]] was written using the letter thorn, Template:Char. 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 Template:Angbr for Template:Angbr became ubiquitous, leading to the common ye, as in 'Ye Olde Curiositie Shoppe'. One major reason for this was that Template:Angbr existed in the printer's types that William Caxton and his contemporaries imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, while Template:Angbr did not.<ref name=Hill>Template:Cite book</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 Template:Char, a Template:Angbr with a small Template:Angbr above it. (Similarly, þat (modern that) was abbreviated using a Template:Angbr with a small Template:Angbr above it, as can be seen in the sample illustrated here.) As a result of the Template:Angbr for Template:Angbr substitution practice, the use of a Template:Angbr with an Template:Angbr above it (Template:Char,File:EME ye.svg) 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 usageEdit

An area in which the use or non-use of the is sometimes problematic is with geographic names:

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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

TrademarkEdit

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 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>Template:Cite news</ref>

AbbreviationsEdit

The word "The" itself, capitalised, is used as an abbreviation in 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>

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit