4. ARTICLE.

Articles define a name and are always located before the name. In English, unlike Castilian, they have no gender or plural form. In Spanish we say "el coche" (masculine gender, singular) or "las casas" (feminine gender, plural) and in English it is "the car" and "the houses". "The" corresponds to the following articles in Spanish: el, la, los, las.

Examples:

Singular masculine

 The boy
 The book
Male / plural

 The boys
 The books
Feminine singular

 The girl
 The table
Feminine / plural

 The girls
 The tables
This article may be preceded by prepositions "of" or "to". In English there is no preposition and article contraction.

Examples:

 The days of the week.
 I am going to the garden.
Uses Of The Definite Article.
1. When we know who or what we are talking about. We use "the" to indicate something or someone in particular, that's why it's called definite. We are talking about something or someone specific that both the sender and the receiver of the message know because they have already left the conversation earlier or because they both know it previously.

Examples:

 What is the name of the restaurant?
 Do you remember the day we went to New York?
 Who is the president of the United States?
 The doctor is very good.
2. With the names of geological regions, mountain chains, seas, oceans, groups of islands, rivers and countries in plural.

Examples:

 The United States
 The Netherlands
 The Andes
 The Atlantic Ocean
 The Canary Islands
 The Nile River
3. To refer to addresses (right, left, top, bottom) and to the cardinal points (north, south, east, west).

Examples:

 the south of France
 the house on the left
 the top of the page
4. With adjectives in superlative degree and ordinal numbers.

Examples:

 the tallest building
 the strongest man
 the first time
 the second floor
When Not To Use The Definite Article
1. When we talk about something in general.

Examples:

 I like ice cream.
 Math is difficult.
2. We will never use "the" when we refer to television, meal times, days of the week, time, months of the year, seasons or years.

Examples:

 I do not like to watch television [TV].
 I have an appointment on Monday.
 We eat breakfast at 9:00.
3. With institutions and modes of transport, when we are talking in general.

Examples:

 We like school.
 I go to work by train.
 They go to church on Sundays.
4. The article with names of cities or names of places in general is not used, although there are some exceptions as we have seen in the previous section. Also, the article with lakes or streets is not used.

Examples:

 I went to Lake Titicaca.
 She lives on Flores Street