(1) the和可数名词单数连用，表示一类人或物，如：
the fern(蕨类), the wallflower
(2) 序数词之前必须用the，如：
the first woman, the nineteenth century
但前面有物主代词时除外，如 my first baby
(3) 形容词最高级之前必须用the(有物主代词时除外)，如：
the largest city, the most advanced technology
(4) of连接的名词前多用the, 如：
the development of the watch,
(5) 世界上独一无二的东西前应加the, 如：
the globe(地球)，the equator(赤道), the moon, the sun
在下列情况下，一般不用the：
(1) 表示人名、地名、国家名等专有名词前, 一般不加，如：
Dennis Chavez(人名)，Alaska(地名)，English(英语), February(二月), America(美国)
但是在表示海洋、海峡、江、河、山脉、群岛等专有名词时要加上the
the Great Lakes(美国五大湖)， the Changjiang River(长江)
(2) 无特指的不可数名词前，如：
algebra(代数学), advertising， accounting(会计学)
(3) 表示类别的复数名词前，如：
Historians believe that…, Amphibians(两栖动物) hatch from…
(4) 一些固定词组中，如：
in history, in nature, at work, at home , go to school, go to bed, in bed
乘车的词组：
by train(乘火车), by car (乘汽车), by bicycle(骑脚踏车), by bus (乘公共汽车),
by land(由陆路), by sea (由海路), by water (由水路) , by air (通过航空)
on foot (步行)， by plane(乘飞机)， by ship (乘船)，
打球的词组：
play tennis, play baseball, play basketball
注意：表示职位的词之前的冠词有无均可, 如：He was elected (the) chairman of the committee.
例题：
(1 ) Historically, ---- chief material for making furniture has been wood, but metal and stone have also been used.
(A) it was the
(B) that the
(C) there was a
(D) the
答案：D
解释：空格后是主谓句，A、C可先排除，B使原句只有从句没有主句，只剩下D可选，D是定冠词作名词material的限定词，表特指
(2) The Yukon River, which flows into the Bering Sea, gives its name to a region of Alaska and a territory of the Canada.
应改为：of
解释：Canada是国名，属专用名词，之前不能加定冠词
(3) The development of professional sports in the United States dates back tonineteenth century.
应改为：to the nineteenth
解释：nineteenth是序数词，之前应加the
