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A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener.It may be something that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be somethinguniquely specified. The definite article in English, for both singular and plural nouns, is the.

The chi ldrenknow the fastest wayhome.

The sentence above refers to specific children and a specific way home; it contrasts with

the much more general observation that:

Childrenknow the fastest wayhome.

The latter sentence refers to children in general and their specific ways home.Likewise,

Give me the book.

refers to a specific book whose identity is known or obvious to the listener; assuch it has a markedly different meaning from

Give me a book.

which does not specify what book is to be given.

The definite article can also be used in English to indicate a specific classamong other classes:

Th ecabbage white butterfly lays its eggs on members of theBrassica genus.

However, recent developments show that definite articles aremorphological elements linked to certain noun types duetolexicalization.Under this point of view, definiteness does not play arole in the selection of a definite article more than the lexical entryattached to the article.[3][4]

The definite article is sometimes also used withproper names,whichare already specified by definition (there isjust one of them). Forexample: the Amazon, the Hebrides. In these cases, the definite article

may be considered superfluous. Its presence can be accounted for bythe assumption that they are shorthands for a larger phrase in which thename is a specifier, i.e. the Amazon River,the Hebrides Islands. Wherethe nouns in such longer phrases cannot be omitted, the definite articleis universally kept: the United States, the People's Republic of China.This distinction can sometimes become a political matter: the formerusage the Ukrainestressed the word's Russian meaning of"borderlands"; asUkrainebecame a fully independent state followingthecollapse of the Soviet Union,it requested formal mentions of itsname omit the article. Similar shifts in usage have occurred in thenames ofSudanand bothCongo (Brazzaville)and(Kinshasa);a movein the other direction occurred withThe Gambia.

Some languages also use definite articles withpersonal names.Forexample, such use is standard inPortuguese:a Maria, literally: "theMaria". It also occurs colloquially inSpanish,Germanand otherlanguages, and is sometimes heard in Italian. InHungaryit isconsidered to be aGermanism.

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