Classes :

This one way to refer to classes, and is perhaps more formal than using a plural

The tigger is threatened with extinction

National Groups

The spanish sleep more time than the French

Other groups

The Beatles

Unique objects.When use the when we know that there is only one of a particular thing :

The moon , the sun, the world, the North Pole

But note that there are other moon in universes for example

this planet has a small moon

The same applies to the following things when we refer to them in a general way

the weather, the climate, the human race, the future, the past, the sea, the sky, the wind , the atmosphere, the pubic

Titles

This tend to be “unique”

The director of administration

Other titles

When form part of the title

Newspapers : The Times

Musical instruments

I don’t like play the piano

Emphatic use

To emphasis the following noun

This room is the unique that has a jacuzzi in all the houses around this building.

Geographical names:

Rivers : The Ebro

Mountain ranges : The Alps, the Pyrinees

Oceans: the Pacific, the Mediterranean

Unique features : the Channel

Points areas : the East , the Middle East

Countries , collective or plural : The united kingdom

This does not apply to :

Mountains : Everest

Continents : Asia, Europe

Contries: France

The definite article is sometimes used before Lebanon and Gambia

Place names

Specially with of

The University of Cambridge

The tower of London

Most and the most

Most flats in Barcelona are very expensive (making a generalisation)

This is the most expensive flat in Barcelona (talking about a specific flat)

Importance of the context

The company has two meeting rooms. The big one is used for especific purposes, and and all people of company can come to talk.

We use the before a superlative adjective (the most cheaper, the smallest, etc) when the superlative adjective is followed by a noun or defining place

He is the most smart student in the class at the moment

We use the when we expect the listener or reader to be able to identify the thing or person we are talking about .

The bus is coming – this means that we were waiting this bus

We also with the when its clear from the situation wich person or thing we mean

The flower look beautiful on the table- the flower wich now I’m looking

In fictional writting , like novels, will often mention something for the first time with the to build up suspense .

The man open the door and looked at the house

The is often used with nouns before a phrase begining of /the of, and this conects to a particular thing or person

Music can help students learn the meaning of the words that want to express the compositor

Some words are commonly used to refer a particular place, time, etc.

In the middle of the conversation he started to laugh a lot

When we use the with a plural or uncountable noun , we’re talking about specific things or people

The books you wanted to read I lost them in the room hotel

We can use the with a singular countable noun to talk about the general features or characteristics of a class of things or people rather than one one specific thing or person

Nowadays the exams are found in both the house, and the school

We use the when there are two people with the same name and we want to specify wich one we’re talking about

Is the Smith I went to university the last year

We use the with adjectives refering to a general classes of people :

the blind, the deaf, the rich, the poor, the old, the young , the italian

With and adjective to describe a person or their job

The spanish writter Perez Reverte

The writter Ken Follet

When we talk about cinema, opera, or theatre in general or when we refer to a building where this type of entertaiment takes place we use the

I like to go to the theatre at least once a month

We ususally go to the theatre in Paral.lel street, because have good combination to arrive by bus

With winter, summer, spring, autumn and New Year (meaning the holiday period) , we can often use either the or zero article

In the summer I try to go to the beach every day

In Edinburgh they know a lot how to celebrate the New Year

We use the when is understood wich summer, spring, we mean

The first time I went to Istanbul, was in the winter of 2006

We say in the New Year , to mean at or near the beginning of the next year

I’ll talk with you again in the New Year

We use the and a/an in the usual way whe we talk about the morning/the afternoon/the evening of a particular day

We’re going to see our family in the evening

We use the with types of transport wich have a fixed timetable

Shall we get the bus or take a taxi?

Kaynak: www.englishpage.blogcu.com