The

The is the only definite article in English, denoting person(s) or thing(s) already mentioned, under discussion, implied, or otherwise presumed familiar to the listener or reader. The is the most commonly used word in the English language, accounting for 7% of all words.

"The" can be used with both singular and plural nouns, with nouns of any gender, and with nouns that start with any letter. This is different from many other languages which have different articles for different genders and/or numbers. The is pronounced two ways.

Pronunciation

In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as /ðə/ (with the voiced dental fricative /ð/ followed by schwa) when followed by a consonant sound. In many dialects, including Received Pronunciation, the pronunciation [ði] is used before words that begin with vowel sounds. The emphatic form of the word is /ðiː/ (like thee).

In some Northern England dialects of English, the is pronounced [t̪ə] (with a dental t) or as a glottal stop, usually written in eye dialect as ⟨t⟩; in some dialects it reduces to nothing. This is known as definite article reduction. In dialects that do not have the voiced dental fricative /ð/, the is pronounced with the voiced dental plosive, as in /d̪ə/ or /d̪iː/).

Nick Kroll

Nicholas J. "Nick" Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his role as Rodney Ruxin in the FXX comedy series The League, and for creating and starring in the Comedy Central series Kroll Show.

Early life and education

Kroll was born in New York City, and raised in Westchester County, New York. the son of Lynn and Kroll Inc. founder Jules B. Kroll. The youngest child in the family, he has a brother, Jeremy, and two sisters, Vanessa and Dana. He attended high school at Rye Country Day School. During this time, he also briefly attended The Mountain School in Vermont where he developed his fondness for hiking. In 2001, Kroll graduated from Georgetown University. He described himself as "a history major, and I minored in art and Spanish, but I found myself gravitating toward media studies as time went on."

Career

Kroll has been a contributing writer to Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show and MTV's Human Giant. Kroll's live work is a mix of standup, sketch and characters. He is well known as a performer for his characters: Bobby Bottleservice, Fabrice Fabrice, and Gil Faizon of The Oh, Hello Show, which he created with writing partner John Mulaney. His character work features prominently in Kroll Show. Kroll was honored with the Breakout Star of the Year award from the 2013 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. Kroll is one of the co-authors of the critically acclaimed book Bar Mitzvah Disco.

John Mulaney

John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work as a writer on Saturday Night Live (SNL) and as a standup comedian. He was the creator and star of the Fox sitcom Mulaney, a semi-autobiographical series which aired from October 2014 until its cancellation in February 2015.

Early life

Mulaney was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Ellen (née Stanton), a law professor, and Charles W. Mulaney, Jr., an attorney. Both of his parents are of Irish Catholic descent. Mulaney's maternal great-grandfather was George J. Bates, a Republican mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, who also served as a congressman from that state. His maternal great-uncle is William H. Bates, who also served as a U.S. congressman. His parents both attended Georgetown University and Yale Law School with the future president Bill Clinton, whom Mulaney met in 1992. Mulaney was the third of four children, and was an altar boy.

At the age of seven, Mulaney had an opportunity to audition for the role of Kevin in the film Home Alone, but his parents declined. For junior high, he attended St. Clement School where, in lieu of doing reports, he and his best friend, John O'Brien, would offer to perform what they had learned in the format of a skit. Mulaney would also frequent the Museum of Broadcast Communications, where he would watch archived episodes of shows such as I Love Lucy or The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He then attended St. Ignatius College Prep, and finally Georgetown University, where he studied English Literature.