Parts of the body

Names of parts of the body, like hand, face, knee are usually countable nouns used with the definite or the indefinite article according to the standard rules.

There is also a use where we are thinking of parts of the body touched by an outside object. For this you can use the definite article:

It bit her on the leg.

She had the urge to beat him over the head.

When the noun comes straight after a verb such as “grab” or after a verb and a preposition, for example step on, you have to use a possessive determiner.

I stepped on his foot (not I stepped on the foot).

Robert touched her cheek.

Geographical oppositions

The definite article is used before a number of nouns to indicate geographical alternatives, for example the town - the country and the sea - the land.

There are compensations in the town, particularly for older children.

I'd gone to the country with some friends.

There are a lot of tourists who take their holidays in the mountains rather than at the seaside.

We are not referring to a particular place, for example a particular town or forest. We are talking about the types of landscape or geographical environments where people live, work, or go for holidays.

Here are some words which are used like this:

the city the country the countryside

the desert the forest the jungle

the land the mountains the plains

the sea the seaside the town

He wasn’t used to life in the country because he spent twenty years in town.

“The country” in this context means areas where there are no towns or cities. You can sometimes use “the countryside” with a similar meaning.

Note 1. When the noun town is opposed to the noun country and when the nearest town or town somebody lives in is meant there is no article:

I have to go to town.