Look at these examples to see when the is and isn't used.
I'm going to bed.
I walk to work.
My children are going to start school.
I visited the school yesterday.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
Here are some ways we use articles in common phrases and place names.
Common phrases
We don't usually use an article in expressions with bed, work and home.
go to bed / be in bed
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work
go home / be at home / get home / stay at home
We also don't normally use an article in expressions with school, university, prison and hospital.
start school / go to school / be at school
go to university / be at university
be sent to prison / go to prison / be in prison
go to hospital / be in hospital
But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient, etc.
My son has started school now. I went to the school to meet his teacher.
I went to the prison a lot when I was a social worker.
I'm at the hospital. My sister has just had a baby.
Place names
We don't normally use an article for continents, most countries, cities, towns, lakes, mountains or universities. So, we say:
Africa, Asia, Europe
India, Ghana, Peru, Denmark
Addis Ababa, Hanoi, New York, Moscow
Lake Victoria, Lake Superior, Lake Tanganyika
Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus
Cardiff University, Harvard University, Manchester University
Some countries are different. Country names with United have the. There are other countries which are exceptions too. So, we say:
the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America
the Bahamas, the Gambia
Seas and oceans, mountain ranges and rivers have the:
the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean
the Andes, the Himalayas, the Alps
the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze
Universities with of in the title also have the:
the University of Cape Town, the University of Delhi, the University of Tokyo
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello Honey June,
I'm responding to this comment and also your other one about Grammar test 1 question 3.
We don't usually use 'the' in the phrase 'at university', unless we are referring to a specific university that we've already mentioned. In this case, the sentence is about someone's plans: after she finishes school, she wants to go to university. It could be any university, and so no 'the' is used.
But if we had just been talking about a specific university -- for example, the university in our city -- then we could say 'the university' here. Does that make sense?
It's true that we often use 'the' to refer to unique things: 'the Taj Mahal', 'the Eiffel Tower', or 'the great pyramids', etc. You can read more about this and other uses of 'the' on our definite article page.
I'm afraid I don't completely understand your last question. If the page I have linked to doesn't answer your question, please ask us again in another way.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello khaingkhaingwin,
The correct answer is 'The University of Nottingham is in the United Kingdom'. It's not correct to put 'the' as the first word, since the first words of sentences are always capitalised.
Does that make sense? By the way, after you press the Check Answers button, a Show Answers button appears. You can see the corrections this way.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi LUIZ ANTONIO,
The correct forms are as follows:
We use 'the' for seas and oceans ('the Mediterranean Sea') and for rivers ('The Nile'), but we use no article for the names of continents ('- Africa') and lakes ('- Lake Victoria').
You can see the correct answers to any exercise once you have entered your answers and clicked 'Finish'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi walimM,
Actually, in that question you should put in The Nile. I've just checked the exercise, and it marks The as correct for me. Did it give you an error?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team