the

the

1. The, called the definite article, is the commonest word in English, occurring about once in every seven words of everyday language. It can therefore come as a surprise to know that it is pronounced in three ways, depending on its role and position. In normal use it is pronounced dhǝ before a word beginning with a consonant (the table / the green house) and dhi before a word beginning with a vowel or a softly aspirated h sound (the apples / the other leg / the hotel). When emphasized, it is pronounced dhee (You mean the Sharon Stone?). These distinctions come naturally to most native speakers, but occasional divergences are heard, especially over-emphasis of the in cases where the weak form is called for.

2. When two nouns are joined by and, a second the is normally omitted: the distortion and innuendo to which several of your correspondents have resorted. But the must be repeated to avoid ambiguity: the black and the white jerseys / the London and the Southampton trains. When two nouns joined by and form the subject of a sentence, they are sometimes regarded as a single concept and treated as grammatically singular:

• The innocence and purity of their singing comes entirely from their identification with the character —Bernard Levin, 1985.

See agreement ³.

3. In titles of books, plays, films, etc., The should be retained when it forms part of the recognized title, but can be omitted when it does not fit the structure of the sentence: Look in The Times / a new edition of The Chicago Manual of Style but John is a Times reporter / J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

4. In BrE it is usual to add the when referring to a person by a title, as in The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, attended the meeting. The style Prime Minister Gordon Brown attended the meeting is characteristic of AmE. After verbs such as become, be appointed, etc., the definite article can be omitted before titles or names of office that refer to a single person: He became Prime Minister in 2007.