Articles: a, an, the, zero article

games, sports

for deserts

uncountable nouns or plural nouns, unless referring to a specific group

for some institutions, unless we are just visiting

lakes

for some set expressions (on ? foot, on ? holiday, at ? noon)

streets

newspapers, inventions, musical instruments

plural names of mountain ranges

most countries

with jobs, illnesses, some numbers

we use to refer things that have already been mentioned

in set phrases or expressions ( ? couple of weeks, once in ? while, twice ? week)

when there is only one

seas

shops, restaurants, individual people

with singular countable nouns mentioned for the first time

oceans

for some countries

mountains

with and adjective to mean a particular group of people

most continents

to refer to things in general

cities

for rivers

for some important buildings

school subjects

languages

we use to refer to specific things

for superlatives