the

— used to indicate a person or thing that has already been mentioned or seen or is clearly understood from the situation

a  — used to refer to things or people that are common in daily life

b  — used to refer to things that occur in nature

a  — used to refer to a particular unit or period of time

b  British — used to indicate the day on which something happened or will happen

— used before the name of a specific person, place, event, work of art, etc.

— used to indicate which person or thing you are referring to or discussing

— used in titles after a person's name

— used before an ordinal number

a  — used before a singular noun to refer in a general way to people or things of a particular kind

b  — used to indicate the type of musical instrument someone plays

c  — used before an adjective that is being used as a noun to refer to all of the people or things that have a particular quality

d  — used before a plural noun to indicate that every person or thing of the kind specified is included

e  — used before the plural form of a person's last name to indicate that all the members of the family are included

a  — used to indicate that a person or thing is the best of its kind

b  — used to indicate the most famous person having a particular name

◊ This sense of the is emphasized in speech.

• “I saw Julia Roberts when I was in L.A.” “You saw the Julia Roberts, the famous actress?”

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— used to refer in a general way to a specific type of activity

a  — used to refer to a part of your body or clothing

b  informal — used before a noun that refers to a person's family, job, health, etc.