要想说一口流利而准确的英语，掌握定冠词 “the” 的使用方法非常重要。什么情况下用必须用 “the”？什么时候不能用 “the”，而要用不定冠词 “a” 或 “an”？看视频，学习关于 “the” 的三个实用知识点。

Hi, I'm Phil from BBC Learning English. I'm going to tell you three facts about the.

We use the when we're referring to a specific thing and that both you and the person you're talking to know which one you mean. Please pass me the milk. We can see the bottle so we know it's that one.

Number 2. We don't use the when we're talking about something in general. For example, I love chocolate.

Number 3. We don't use the when it doesn't matter which thing we're talking about. We usually use a or an, here. Give me a cup of tea. I don't care which cup, any cup will do.

Three facts about 'the'

1 We use the when referring to a specific thing and both you and the person you're talking to know which one you mean.用 “the” 指说话双方都明确所指的人或事物。

Please pass me the milk - we can see the bottle so we know it's that one.

2 Don't use the when talking about something in general. 非特指的一般事物或人前不加 “the”。

I love chocolate.

3 We don't use the when it doesn't matter which thing we're talking about. We usually use a or an here.无关紧要的、非特指的事物或人前不用 “the”, 用 “a”  或 “an”。

Give me a cup of tea, I don't care which cup, any cup will do.