This is the 2661st most frequent Chinese word.
the
In Chinese, there is no direct equivalent to the English word "the"; articles like "the" are typically omitted, or context determines specificity.
The word '的' is used here as a possessive particle, indicating ownership or association (today's homework).
这是今天的作业。
This is today's homework.
In this sentence, '的' indicates the relationship between the birds and their song (the song of the birds).
我们可以听到鸟的歌声。
We can hear the song of the birds.
Here, '的' is part of the structure to turn '这' (this) and '个' (classifier) into a descriptive noun phrase (this story).