“The” is the only definite article in English and one of the most commonly used words in the English language. “The”是英语中唯一的定冠词,也是英语中最常用的词之一。
How to Use Article THE in English – Video如何在英语中使用冠词
“The” can be used with both singular and plural nouns, with nouns of any gender, and with nouns that start with any letter. This is different from many other languages which have different articles for different genders and/or numbers. “The”可以与单数和复数名词一起使用,可以使用任何性别的名词,也可以使用以任何字母开头的名词。这与针对不同性别 and/or数字具有不同文章的许多其他语言不同。
For examples: 例如
the boy / the boys;the girl / the girls;the day / the days
The definite article the is used when the referent of the noun phrase is assumed to be unique or known from the context.
当假定名词短语的指示对象是唯一的或从上下文中已知时使用的定冠词the。
For example, in the sentence: 例如,在句子中:
The boy with glasses was looking at the moon. (it is assumed that in the context
the reference can only be to one boy and one moon.) 戴眼镜的男孩看着月亮.(假设在上下文中参考只能是一个男孩和一个月亮)
The word “the” is also used with comparatives. “the”这个词也用于比较。
For example, in phrases like: 例如,在以下短语中
the sooner the better 越快越好we were all the happier for it. 我们都很开心
(this form of the definite article has a somewhat different etymology from other uses of the definite article).(这种定冠词的词源与定冠词的其他用法有些不同)
The definite article is not used: 定冠词未使用
with generic nouns (plural or uncountable): cars have accelerators, happiness is contagious referring to cars in general and happiness in general (compare the happiness I felt yesterday – specifying particular happiness);使用通用名词(复数或不可数):汽车有加速器,幸福是传染性的,指的是一般的汽车和一般的幸福(比较我昨天所感受到的快乐 - 指定特别的快乐); with many proper names: John, France, London, etc. 有许多专有名词:约翰、法国、伦敦等
An area in which the use or non-use of the is sometimes problematic is with geographic names. 使用或不使用the有时会出现问题的区域是地理名称。
Names of rivers, seas, mountain ranges, deserts, island groups and the like are generally used with the definite article (the Rhine, the North Sea, the Alps, the Sahara, the Hebrides).河流,海洋,山脉,沙漠,岛屿群等的名称通常与定冠词(莱茵河,北海,阿尔卑斯山,撒哈拉沙漠,赫布里底群岛)一起使用。Names of continents, islands, countries, regions, administrative units,cities and towns mostly do not take the article (Europe, Skye, Germany, Scandinavia, Yorkshire, Madrid).各大洲,岛屿,国家,地区,行政单位,城镇名称大多不接受该文章(欧洲,斯凯,德国,斯堪的纳维亚,约克郡,马德里)
However, there are certain exceptions: 然而,也有一些例外:
Countries and regions whose names are modified common nouns, or are derived from island groups, take the article: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic, the Middle East, the Philippines, the Seychelles. Note also the Netherlands.国家和地区的名字是修改常见的名词,或来自岛屿群,请参阅文章:美国,英国,苏联,捷克共和国,中东,菲律宾,塞舌尔。另请注意荷兰。Certain countries whose names derive from mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc. are sometimes used with an article (the Lebanon, the Sudan), but this usage is declining, although the Gambia is the recommended name of that country. Since the independence of Ukraine (formerly sometimes called the Ukraine), most style guides have advised dropping the article (in some other languages there is a similar issue involving prepositions). Use of the Argentine for Argentina is now old-fashioned.某些国家的名字来源于山脉、河流、沙漠、等有时使用的一篇文章(黎巴嫩、苏丹),但这种用法也在下降,尽管冈比亚是推荐的那个国家的名字。自从乌克兰独立(以前有时被称为乌克兰)以来,大多数风格指南都建议放弃这篇文章(在其他一些语言中也存在类似的介词问题)。现在阿根廷语的用法已经过时了。Some names include an article for historical reasons, such as The Bronx, or to reproduce the native name (The Hague).某些名称包括历史原因的文章,如布朗克斯,或复制海牙。Names beginning with a common noun followed by of take the article, as in the Isle of Wight (compare Christmas Island). The same applies to names of institutions: Cambridge University, but the University of Cambridge.名称以普通名词开头,后跟文章,如怀特岛(比较圣诞岛)。这同样适用于机构名称:剑桥大学,但剑桥大学。