Articles and Special Cases

To read the introductory units on articles, click here. 
To read Articles and Countable Nouns, click here.

the Before a Noncount Noun

Occasionally you will see a noun determiner before a noncount noun. When this occurs, the noun will probably have a different and special meaning.

Example 1

  • English is my second language.
    Here, English refers to the language.

  • The English sold cocaine to the British.
    Here, English refers to citizens of the United Kingdom.

Example 2

  • Life is full of challenges.
    Here, the reference is to living and life in general.

  • I am getting used to life in the United States.
    Here the reference is to the general concept of living in the U.S.

  • She tried to save the life of her child.
    Here the reference is to a specific human being's biological life.

Names of Languages

The names of languages never have a determiner.

  • My wife has known English for many years.

  • I didn't understand English.

  • I speak French.

How can you explain the sentence below:

  • They want to learn the English language.

We are using the article "the" before the noun, language. "English" functions as an adjective. The sentence has the same structure as the noun phrase, "the green tomato," where green is an adjective describing the noun tomato, or the noun phrase "the thick book," where thick is an adjective describing the noun, book.

Names of Nationalities

The names of nationalities use the article the.

How do you explain the structure of the sentence below?

  • The English sold cocaine to the Chinese.

How do you explain the structure of the sentence below?

  • The English (people) sold cocaine to the Chinese (people).

The noun "people" is understood.

Names of Countries

Use the article the before certain countries:

  1. the United States

  2. the Dominican Republic

  3. the Republic of China

You should be able to see the pattern here.

  • We arrived in the United States.

  • I went back to the Dominican Republic.

  • I come from China.

  • I come from the Republic of China.

  • I come from the former USSR.

  • I come from Ukraine.

  • I come from the Bahaman Islands.

This concludes this study unit. 

Now test your skills with our Editing Practice exercises.

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