English Grammar Basics - Using "The"

When to use THE

1. Oceans, Rivers, Seas, gulf, and plural lakes

The Red Sea, The Atlantic Ocean, The Persian Gulf, The great Lakes

2. Mountains

The Rocky Mountains, The Andes

3. Earth, Moon

The Earth, the Moon

4. School, College, Universities, when the phrase begins with these words

The University of Florida, The college of Arts and Sciences

5. Ordinal numbers before nouns

The First World War, The third chapter

6. War (except World Wars)

The Crimean War, The korean War

7. Certain countries or groups of countries with more than one word(except Great Britain)

The United States, The united kingdom, the central African Republican

8. Historical Documents

The Constitution, The Magana Carta

9. Ethnic groups

The Indians, The Aztecs

When NOT to use THE

1. Singular Lakes

Lake Geneva, Lake Ene, The Lake Geneva, The Lake Ene

2. Mounts

Mount Vesuvius, Mount Mckinley,The Mount Vesuvius, The Mount Mckinley, 

3. Planets, constellations

Venus, Mars, Earth, Orion, The Mars, The Venus

4. School, college, Universities when the phrase begins with a proper noun

Stetson University, The Stetson University

5. Ordinal numbers after nouns

World War 1, chapter three, The World War 1

6. Countries preceded by New or an adjective such as a direction

New Zealand, South Africa, North Korea, The North Korea

7. Countries with only one word

France, Sweden, Venezuela

8. Continents

Europe, Africa, South America

9. States

Florida, Ohio, California

10. Sports

Baseball, Basketball

11. Abstracts Nouns

Freedom, Happiness

12. General areas of subject matter

Mathematics, Sociology

13. Holidays

Christmas, Thanksgiving

Don’t use “A” or “An”

1.Before plural nouns

            Flowers were growing along the river bank

2. Before non-count nouns

            I wanted advice

            I wanted an advice

            I need an advice