ARTICLES

The use of the definite article THE

before common nouns used in a particular sense (ispred zajednikih imenica kada se govori o odreenom licu ili
stvari):

The book on the table is mine.

before common nouns to indicate the whole class (da oznai celu vrstu neega):

The cow gives us milk.

before superlatives (ispred superlativa):

She is the prettiest girl in the family.

before ordinal umbers (ispred rednih brojeva):

the first/second act of the play

before unique things (ispred pojmova od kojih postoji samo jedan):

the earth/moon/sun/North pole/east/west

before surnames in the plural (ispred prezimena kojima se dodaje -s):

Where were the Smiths yesterday?

before rivers, seas, oceans, chains o mountains (ispred naziva reka, mora, okena, planinskih venaca):

the Thames/Danube/Sava/Adriatic (Sea)/Black Sea/Alps/Lake of Ohrid

before the names of countries and islands consisting of an adjective and noun (kod zemalja i ostrva ija se imena
sastoje od prideva i imenica) :

the Inited States/United Kingdom/British Isles

BUT: Great Britain/Germany/Serbia

before the names of nationalities to indicate the whole nation (ispred imena pripadnika narodnosti da oznai celu
naciju):

the English/French/Chinese

before adjectives used as nouns (ispred poimeninih prideva):

The strong should protect the weak.

before public buildings, theatres, museums, cinemas, hotels, restaurants:

the Jadran/NationalMuseum/Modern Art Gallery/Majestic

before the names of musical instruments used in a general sense (ispred imena muzikih instrumenata
upotrebljenih u optem znaenju):

Do you play the piano?

before the word same (ispred rei same):

It is all the same to me.

with phrases (sa izrazima):

all the time, by the way, at the end/beginning, half the time/way, to have the honour etc.

Omission of the definite article

we do not use the definite article before nouns used in a general sense (ispred imenica upotrebljenih u optem
znaenju, odreeni lan se ne koristi):

Time is money.
Time waits for nobody.

BUT:

What is the time, please?

I will take bread and butter.

BUT:

The bread is on the table.

When do you have lunch?

BUT:

The lunch we had at the Majestic was excellent.

The use of the indefinite article A/AN

before singular nouns (ispred imenica u jednini):

a bookshelf;

an apple

when something is mentioned for the first time (kada se neto pominje po prvi put):

I saw a girl in the street. The girl was very pretty.

before names of nationality to indicate one person (ispred imena pripadnika narodnosti da oznai jedno lice):

an Italian;

a Chinese/Swiss/German

before the words: hundred, thousand, million, dozen, instead of the word one (ispred pomenutih rei umesto rei
one):

A dozen eggs, please.

with phrases (sa izrazima):

It is a pity; in a hurry; all of a sudden; in a short time; for a change; one at a time; once a day/week/month/year, etc.