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You use before a non-specific item.

Hand me a fork. -- It can be any fork in the drawer.

You use the before a specific item.

Give me the fork. -- In context, it is clear to you which fork I want. If unclear, you'd ask, Which fork do you want?

Consider how these are different:

A teacher yelled at us.

The teacher yelled at us.

Maybe on the first one, you don't know the teacher or his name.

On the second one, it means one specific teacher, maybe your history teacher.

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10y ago

What else can I help you with?