The English definite article, the, is used very little in comparison to the definite articles in some languages, including French and Spanish. On the other hand, the definite article is used a lot more in English than in languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, which do not have articles at all.

The definite article is used to indicate the specific noun or nouns that you are talking about.

 
The definite article is not used in English when referring to a noun (or group of nouns) in general, or to abstract ideas.

As you can see in these examples, a distinction is being made between "the red skirt" (the one you are wearing, for example) and "red skirts" (all red skirts, red skirts in general). This same distinction is being made with "the children" (a particular group of children) and "children" (children in general, all children).

If you can't decide whether to use the definite article in English, think about the meaning of the noun. Is is a specific item (that you see, own, or are wearing) or is it an unspecified group, a general idea? If it's general, you cannot use the definite article.

In addition, when referring to a person with a title, you do not need an article - the title is used instead.

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