RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Main Clause Relative Pronoun Relative Clause
a) Tom is a doctor
b) An encyclopedia is a book
c) A dolphin is a mammal
d) That’s the boy who
which/that
which/that
whose treats sick people.
contains useful information.
lives in the sea.
bicycle was stolen.
We use the relative pronouns who/what for people.
We use the relative pronouns which/that for objects and animals.
We use the relative pronoun whose for people to show possession.
THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
The is used before:
Nouns which are unique (the moon, the Tower of London)
Names of cinemas (the Odeon), hotels (the Hilton), theatres (The Theatre Royal), museums (The museum of modern art), newspapers/magazines (The European ), ships (The QE2), institutions (The Royal Academy of Art), galleries (The National Gallery)
Names of rivers (the Thames), seas (the North Sea), groups of islands/states (the Orkney Islands, the USA), mountain ranges (the Alps), deserts (the Sahara Desert), oceans (the Atlantic), canals (the Suez Canal) and names or nouns with “of” (the Chamber of Horrors, the Valley of Death) note: the equator, the Artic/Antarctic, the South of France, the South/West/North/East
Musical instruments, dances (the flute, the samba)
Names of families (the Browns), nationalities ending in –sh, -ch or –ese (the Welsh, the Dutch, the Chinese, etc).Other plural nationalities are used with or without “the” [ (the) South Africans, (the) Americans, etc]
Titles (the President, the Prince of Wales, the queen). The is omitted before titles with proper names (Queen Elizabeth II)
Adjectives used as plural nouns (the blind, the elderly, the rich, the poor, etc.) and the superlative degree of adjectives/adverbs. e.g. He’s the most intelligent one here.
Note: “most” used as a determined followed by a noun, does not take “the”. e.g. Most students failed the exams. But: The most interesting lecture was the one on endangered species.
The words: beach, cinema, city, coast, country(side), earth, ground, jungle, radio, pub, sea(side), sky, station, shop, theatre, village, weather, world, etc. but not before “man” (= people) e.g we went to the cinema last night. Note: “the” is optional with seasons.
Morning, afternoon, evening, night e.g. I’ll come round in the morning. (but: at night, at noon, at midnight, by day/night, at 5 o’clock, etc).
Historical reference/ events (the French revolution, the second World War) (but: World War II)
Only, last, first (used as adjectives). E.g Alex is the first to come and the last to leave.
The is omitted before:
Proper nouns (Paolo, Italy)
Names of sports, games, activities, days, month, holidays, colors, drinks, meals and languages (not followed by the word “language”) e.g. I love polo. Can I speak Spanish? But: the Chinese language is fascinating.
Names of countries (France), (but: the Netherlands, the Sudan, the Hague, the Vatican), cities (Vancouver), streets (Bond Street), (but: the High Street, the Strand, the Mall, the A11, the M4 motorway) squares (George Square), bridges (Tower Bridge) (but: the Bridge of Sighs, the Forth Bridge, the Sever Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge) parks (Central Park), stations (King’s Cross Station), individual mountains (Mount Everest), islands (Malta), lakes (Lake Ontario), continents (Asia)
Possessive adjectives e.g . That is my car.
Two-word names whose first word is the name of a person or a place (Glasgow Airport, Edinburg Castle) (but:The White House, because the first word “White” is not the name of a person or a place)
Pubs, restaurants, shops, banks and hotels which have the name of their founder and end in –s or –s’s Tom’s Café, Harrods, Baring’s Bank) (but: the White Horse (pub) because “White Horse” is not the name of the founder)
Bed, church, college, court, hospital, prison, school, university when we refer to the purpose for which they exist e.g He goes to church every Sunday. (but: We have to be at the church at two o’clock to see the Vicar. Work (= place of work) never takes “the” . e.g I have to go to work now.
The words home, father/mother when we talk about our own home/parents e.g. Mum is home now.