1. EXCEPTIONS TO USING THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

There is no article:

• with names of countries (if singular)
  Germany is an important economic power.
  He's just returned from Zimbabwe.
  (But: I'm visiting the United States next week.)

• with the names of languages
  French is spoken in Tahiti.
  English uses many words of Latin origin.
  Indonesian is a relatively new language.

• with the names of meals.
  Lunch is at midday.
  Dinner is in the evening.
  Breakfast is the first meal of the day.

• with people's names (if singular):
  John's coming to the party.
  George King is my uncle.
  (But: we're having lunch with the Morgans tomorrow.)

• with titles and names:
  Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth's son.
  President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
  Dr. Watson was Sherlock Holmes' friend.
  (But: the Queen of England, the Pope.)

• After the 's possessive case:
  His brother's car.
  Peter's house.

• with professions:
  Engineering is a useful career.
  He'll probably go into medicine.

• with names of shops:
  I'll get the card at Smith's.
  Can you go to Boots for me?

• with years:
  1948 was a wonderful year.
  Do you remember 1995?

• With uncountable nouns:
  Rice is the main food in Asia.
  Milk is often added to tea in England.
  War is destructive.

• with the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands:
  Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in Alaska.
  She lives near Lake Windermere.
  Have you visited Long Island?

• with most names of towns, streets, stations and airports:
  Victoria Station is in the centre of London.
  Can you direct me to Bond Street?
  She lives in Florence.
  They're flying from Heathrow.

• in some fixed expressions, for example:

  by car by train by air on foot on holiday on air (in broadcasting)

  at school at work at University in church in prison in bed

2. A few and few, a little and little

These expressions show the speaker's attitude towards the quantity he/she is referring to.

A few (for countable nouns) and a little (for uncountable nouns) describe the quantity in a positive way:

• "I've got a few friends" (= maybe not many, but enough)
• "I've got a little money" (= I've got enough to live on)

Few and little describe the quantity in a negative way:

• Few people visited him in hospital (= he had almost no visitors)
• He had little money (= almost no money)