definite article
"The" in grammar
A definite article is a word that precedes a noun to indicate a specific, identifiable referent.
In English, the only definite article is *the*: the book on the table, the president.
It contrasts with the indefinite articles *a* and *an*, which introduce nonspecific referents.
Many languages lack articles entirely; others have more elaborate systems marking gender or case.
- theNot just any
- nounWord naming something
- wordLinguistic meaning unit
- definitenessQuality of being exact
- determinersNoun-modifying function words
part of speech · noun phrase · specificity · givenness · Romance languages · presupposition · absolute state · that · la · subject · English · particular · grammar · the big picture · the whole nine yards · the end · French · die
- grammardeclension, pronouns, adjectives, conjugation, nouns
- grammar termsnoun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun
- NorwegianOslo, Bergen, krone, verb conjugation, plural forms
- Arabic linguisticsverb conjugation, root system, verb forms, Arabic alphabet, diglossia
- Hebrew grammarabsolute state, matres lectionis, verb conjugation, root system, root systems
- RomanianRomanian, Moldovan, verb conjugation, word order, Latin roots
article, definite, define, definition, defined, indefinite, definitive, defining, defines