Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use the in a sentence

40 example sentences · article, adverb, preposition

The means ...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or very shortly thereafter. Example: “I’m reading the book Mary reviewed. (Compare I’m reading a book Mary reviewed.)”

Examples of the by meaning

article...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or very shortly...

  • I’m reading the book Mary reviewed. (Compare I’m reading a book Mary reviewed.)
  • You live on Main Street, don't you? You know, you should tell the mayor the street needs cleaning.
  • The men and women watched the man give the birdseed to the bird.

articleUsed before a noun designating something considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time.

  • No one knows how many galaxies there are in the universe.
  • God save the Queen!
  • Let's go to the park!

articleUsed to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar.

  • No one in the whole country had seen it before.
  • I don't think I'll get to it until the morning.

articlePrecedes a familiar nickname or other term of address.

  • How's the Sal today?

articleUsed in many idiomatic expressions and proverbs to refer to common objects, roles, or situations connected with...

  • square the circle; feel the pinch; beat around the bush; throw the baby out with the bathwater

articleWhen stressed, indicates that it describes something which is considered to be best or exclusively worthy of attention.

  • That is the hospital to go to for heart surgery.
  • Why, he is the authority.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html)...

articleWhen stressed, used before the name of a famous person, to distinguish said person from a hypothetical lesser-known...

  • "My name," he said, "is Hercule Poirot." "Not," the Commissary stammered, "not the Hercule Poirot?"1928, Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train
  • Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?’2005, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

articleUsed before a noun phrase beginning with superlative or comparative adjective or an ordinal number, indicating that the...

  • That was the juiciest apple pie ever.
  • May the better man win.
  • Starting today through September 30, guests can wow their taste buds with the "swiciest" sensation of the season, the Nashville-Style Hot Honey Pizza.2024 August 21, Liz Parker Kuhn, “California Pizza Kitchen, Mike's Hot Honey drop 'swicy' new pizza”, in Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery

More sentences with the

  • If you want to know the meaning of a word, look it up in the dictionary.From the entry dictionary
  • The fundamental group of the figure eight is free of rank 2.From the entry free
  • I only use the library for the encyclopedia, as we’ve got most other books here.From the entry encyclopedia
  • My old encyclopedia has been gathering dust on the shelf for the past decade.From the entry encyclopedia
  • I managed to murmur some words of consolation as I left the funeral.From the entry word
  • There had been words between him and the secretary about the outcome of the meeting.From the entry word
  • She opened the book to page 37 and began to read aloud.From the entry book
  • He was frustrated because he couldn't find anything about dinosaurs in the book.From the entry book
  • As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.From the entry pound
  • I wonder how they do this on the other side of the pond.From the entry pond
  • I haven’t been back home across the pond in twenty years.From the entry pond
  • The family had steak and kidney pie for dinner and cherry pie for dessert.From the entry pie
  • I'd like to see someone pie the chairman of the board.From the entry pie
  • In the UK, the highest social grade is A – upper middle class.From the entry a
  • The only standard brassiere cup size smaller than the A cup is the AA cup.From the entry a
  • He’s been crowing all day about winning the game of cards.From the entry crow
  • The browns and greens in this painting give it a nice woodsy feel.From the entry brown
  • The teacher asked the students to write a report on current events.From the entry current events
  • I like to stay informed about current events by reading the newspaper daily.From the entry current events
  • Monday is the first day of the week in many countries of the world.From the entry day
  • We've worked out the schedule for Easter week: we'll be shopping Monday.From the entry Monday
  • The word "advisedly" has a connotation of "wisely", although it denotes merely "intentionally" and "deliberately."From the entry connotation
  • The word "happy" has a positive connotation, while "sad" has a negative connotation.From the entry connotation

Meaning of the

  1. article ...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or very shortly thereafter.
  2. article Used before a noun designating something considered to be unique, or of which there is only one at a time.
  3. article Used to indicate a certain example of (a noun) which is usually of most concern or most common or familiar.

Full definition of the

Questions about the in a sentence

How do you use the in a sentence?
The is used as an article, adverb and preposition. For example: “I’m reading the book Mary reviewed. (Compare I’m reading a book Mary reviewed.)”
What is a short sentence with the?
“God save the Queen!”
What does the mean?
The means ...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or very shortly thereafter.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use the in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/the. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.