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We also use the indefinite article:
1. When we talk about our jobs: I’m a teacher.
2. When we talk about a group or class of things: A spider is an arachnid.
3. To replace the word ‘per’ about weight, price, speed, frequency.
I go shopping once a week.
The car goes at 70 miles an hour.
We use the:
1. When we talk about a group or class of people: The poor, the young.
2. Nationalities when referring to the population as a group. The Spanish are very friendly.
3. With official organisations: The Army, The Police, The government.
4. With museums and galleries: The British Museum.
5. With the names of hotels: The Hilton Hotel.
6. To talk about decades and centuries: The seventies, The thirteenth century.
7. With countries composed of different parts: The UK, The USA.
8. With names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific.
9. With points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole.
10. With geographical areas: the Middle East, the West.
11. With deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula.
12. With Mountain ranges: The Alps.
13. With groups of Islands: The West Indies.
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