Definite article - 'the'

There are two ways to pronounce "the": "thuh" and "thee".

You use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

For example:

"She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."

We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.

For example:

the North Pole, the equator

We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

For example:

the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel

We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

For example:

the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..

However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.

For example:

"I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing." "What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her."

The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation whether or not it preceeds a vowel:

For example:

"Harry's Bar is the place to go." "You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?"

!Note - The doesn't mean all:-

For example:

"The books are expensive." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.) "Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.)

No article

We don't usually use an article to talk about things in general:-

Inflation is rising. People are worried about rising crime. (Note! People generally, so no article)

You do not use an article when talking about sports.

For example:

My son plays football. Tennis is expensive.

You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally.

For example:

Information is important to any organisation. Coffee is bad for you.

You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the following words: state(s), kingdom, republic, union...

For example:

No article - Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England Use the - the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish Republic Multiple areas! the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles