de

the

In Mandarin Chinese, 'the' is generally implied and it does not have a direct equivalent. However, '的' is often used in a similar way to 'the', showing possession or modification. For example, to specify 'my cat', one would say '我的猫'. It can mean 'the', but it is also used in many other contexts that do not directly translate to 'the'. It's one of the most common characters in Chinese.