• “The” is used before:  Names of seas, rivers, oceans, mountains, ranges; Ex: The Hudson river  Ordinal numbers; Ex: the first  Musical instruments; Ex: the piano  Groups and classes of people; Ex: the portuguese  Superlatives; Ex: the best  Nouns used in a particular sense; Ex: the courage he showed was amazing  Singular nouns that represent a group/class; Ex: the elephant is an endangered mammal  Nouns of which there is only one; Ex: The earth  Omission of “the”: o Games and sports; Ex: He plays football o Abstract nouns; Ex: Poverty o Subjects of study; Ex: I study English o Gerunds; Ex: Football is a popular hobby in England o Contries, towns, proper nouns; Ex: Scotland, Mr Smith, London exceptions: The USA, The U.K., The Algarve o Names of meals; Ex: at lunch, for breakfast o A number of common phrases made up of a preposition and a noun; Ex: at university, in bed, at work o When these expressions are used with articles, they have special meanings; Ex: She has gone to hospital (= as a patient) Complete the sentences with the definite article or leave the blank: Scientists both in USA and in Russia use _ rockets for exploration and research in atmosphere and in _ space My cousin plays saxophone very well English are known for their sense of humour Dolphin is an animal in danger west and _ east civilizations are quite different Smiths are a vey strange family That girl studies _English and French _ most dangerous activity in _ world is bungee jumping biking is a national sport 10 _ Edinburgh is the capital of _ Scotland  ...Complete the sentences with the definite article or leave the blank: Scientists both in USA and in Russia use _ rockets for exploration