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'The' is the primary definite article in English. It's used to refer to a specific thing that both the speaker and listener are familiar with.

We use 'the'...

• for (a) person/people/thing that we have mentioned before.

- The girl from the party

- The Italians

- The bakery I told you about

• for someone/something that is unique.

-The first man to walk on the moon.

-The Pope

-The only girl I've ever loved

• for someone/something that the speaker and listener already know about.

-The government

-The Beatles

-The Queen of England

• 'The' can be used with singular countable nouns, plural countable nouns, and uncountable nouns.

-The cat

-The cats

-The advice

• We use 'the' for: oceans, seas, rivers, regions, groups of islands, countries that include a word such as Republic, Kingdom, States or Emirates, deserts and mountain ranges.

-The Atlantic Ocean

-The Dead Sea

-The Nile River

-The West

-The Galapagos Islands

-The United Kingdom

-The Sahara Desert

-The Swiss Alps

We DO NOT use 'the' for: lakes, continents, most countries, cities, states, towns, villages, most buildings and places such as schools, universities (unless it contains 'of' Ex: The University of Maryland) stations and airports that use the name of their town.

-Lake Michigan

-Europe

-Spain

-Paris

-Hartford

-Mykonos

-Hartford elementary school

-Yale University

-Baltimore-Washington airport