The definite article – the

The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.

the boy
the girl
the cat
the computers

If the following word begins with a consonant, we speak [ðə], if the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [ði:].

[ðə]	[ði:]
the following word starts with a spoken consonant the girl the book the school	the following word starts with a spoken vowel the English girl the orange book the old school
Compare the following words:
Here [j] is pronounced at the beginning of the word → the unit	Here [ʌ] is pronounced at the beginning of the word → the uncle

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.

without the definite article	with the definite article – the
general words (indefinite) Life is too short. I like flowers.	general words (definite) I've read a book on *the* life of Bill Clinton. I like *the* flowers in your garden.
names of persons on the singular, relatives Peter and John live in London. Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.	family names in the plural *The* Smiths live in Chicago.
public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite) Mandy doesn't like school. We go to school by bus. Some people go to church on Sundays.	public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite) *The* school that Mandy goes to is old. *The* bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40. *The* round church in Klingenthal is famous.
names of countries in the singular, summits of mountains, continents, towns Germany France Mount Whitney Mount McKinley Africa Europe Cairo New York	names of countries in the plural, mountain ranges, regions *the* United States of America *the* Netherlands *the* Highlands *the* Rocky Mountains *the* Alps *the* Middle East *the* west of Australia
single islands Corfu Bermuda Sicily	groups of islands *the* Bahamas *the* British Isles *the* Canaries
parks, lakes, streets Central Park Hyde Park Lake Michigan Loch Ness 42nd Street Oxford Street	names with of-phrase, names in plural, well-known buildings, oceans, seas, rivers, musical instruments, newspapers *the* Statue of Liberty *the* Tower (of London) *the* Great Lakes *the* Empire State Building *the* Isle of Wight *the* Atlantic (Ocean) *the* Mediterranean (Sea) *the* Nile *the* Rhine *the* Suez Canal *the* piano *the* Times
months, days of the week (indefinite) The weekend is over on Monday morning. July and August are the most popular months for holidays.	months, days of the week (definite) I always remember *the* Monday when I had an accident. *The* August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.

in summer
in the summer

The American English word fall is always used with the definite article the.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following example:

The student goes to school.
The mother is going to the school.

In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.

The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different reason. That's why we use the definite article the in the second sentence.

Thanks to Erik.