Englishfor English speakers
the
Determiner
—
Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
—
Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
—
Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
—
Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
football
Noun
—
Football refers to a number of team sports in which players kick a ball including association football (soccer), American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, and rugby football.
—
A football is the ball used in such games.
league
Noun
—
A league is a group of sports teams that play against each other.
Rodriguez won the American League most-valuable-player award in 2003 and 2005.
The chances of your son making the National Hockey League are close to zero.
He spent the summer driving around Texas, watching minor league baseball games.
They played in this year's league championship, but lost by six points.
They could win and finish as the best team in the best league.
—
A league is a group of people who have joined together to promote a similar idea.
The League of Conservation Voters is one of the largest and most political environmental groups in the country.
—
If you are not in the same league as somebody else, they are much better than or different from you.
The Toyota Corolla is not even in the same league as the beautiful new Jaguar.
—
If you are out of your league, you're trying something too difficult for you.
—
If you are in league with somebody, you are working with them, usually in secret and for a bad reason.
—
A league is a distance of 4,828 metres on land or 5,556 metres at sea.