Collins Cobuild

Unit 25
Other uses of ‘the’
Main points
You  do  not  normally  use  ‘the’  with  proper  nouns  referring  to
people.  You  do  use  ‘the’  with  many  proper  nouns  referring  to
geographical places.
You use ‘the’ with some adjectives to talk about groups of people.
1
 You  do  not  normally  use  ‘the’  with  proper  nouns  that  are  people’s
names. However, if you are talking about a family, you can say ‘the
Browns’.
You  use  ‘the’  with  some  titles,  such  as  ‘the  Queen  of  England’,  and
with  the  names  of  some  organizations,  buildings,  newspapers,  and
works of art.
… the United Nations… … the Taj Mahal.
… the Times… … the Mona Lisa.
2
 You  do  use  ‘the’  with  some  proper  nouns  referring  to  geographical
places.
… the Bay of Biscay… … the Suez Canal.
… the Arabian Gulf… … the Pacific Ocean.
You  use  ‘the’  with  countries  whose  names  include  words  such  as

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‘kingdom’, ‘republic’, ‘states’, or ‘union’.
… the United Kingdom… … the
Czech Republic.
You use ‘the’ with countries that have plural nouns as their names.
… the Netherlands… … the Philippines.
Note that you do not use ‘the’ with countries that have singular nouns
as their names, such as ‘China’, ‘Italy’, or ‘Turkey’.
You use ‘the’ with names of mountain ranges and groups of islands.
… the Alps… … the Himalayas.
… the Bahamas… … the Canaries.
Note that you do not use ‘the’ with the names of individual mountains
such as ‘Everest’ or ‘Etna’, or the names of individual islands such as
‘Sicily’, ‘Minorca’, or ‘Bali’.
You use ‘the’ with regions of the world, or regions of a country that
include ‘north’, ‘south’, ‘east’, or ‘west’.
… the Middle East… … the west of Ireland.
… the north of England… … the Far East.
Note that there are some exceptions.
…North America… …South-East Asia.
You do not use ‘the’ with ‘northern’, ‘southern’, ‘eastern’, or ‘western’
and a singular name.
… northern England… … western Africa.
You use ‘the’ with the names of areas of water such as seas, oceans,
rivers, canals, gulfs, and straits.

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… the Mediterranean Sea.
… the Atlantic Ocean.
… the river Ganges.
… the Panama Canal.
… the Gulf of Mexico.
… the straits of Gibraltar.
Note that you do not use ‘the’ with lakes.
…Lake Geneva… …Lake Superior.
Note  that  you  do  not  use  ‘the’  with  continents,  cities,  streets,  or
addresses.
…Asia… …Tokyo… …Oxford Street…
…15 Park Street.
3
You use ‘the’ with adjectives such as ‘rich’, ‘poor’, ‘young’, ‘old’, and
‘unemployed’ to talk about a general group of people. You do not need
a noun.
Only the rich could afford his firm’s products.
They were discussing the problem of the unemployed.
When you use ‘the’ with an adjective as the subject of a verb, you use
a plural verb.
In the cities the poor are as badly off as they were in the villages.
4
You use ‘the’ with some nationality adjectives to talk about the people
who live in a country.
They will be increasingly dependent on the support of the French.
The Spanish claimed that the money had not been paid.
With other nationalities, you use a plural noun.

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…Germans… …the Americans.
When  you  use  ‘the’  with  a  nationality  adjective  as  the  subject  of  a
verb, you use a plural verb.
The British are worried.
5
You use ‘the’ with superlatives.
He was the cleverest man I ever knew.
He was the youngest.
His shoulders hurt the worst.
It was the most exciting summer of their lives.

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