ARTICLES
Articles (A/An/The) There are three articles in the English language: a, an, and the. They
are placed before nouns and show whether a given noun is general or specific.
Using Indefinite Articles [ A and an]
A and an are the indefinite articles, show that a noun is general, or non-specific.
Rules
1. a/an for Singular and general Noun
When you want to speak generally about a singular noun, use a or an before it. Also A or
An is used before the first mention of a singular countable noun.
Example:
I would love to have a pet bird. (It doesn’t matter what kind of bird.)
2. A singular common noun always requires an article ‘a or an’, but a plural common
noun does NOT require any article or can have ‘the’ to particularise that noun.
Example:
I saw an elephant . (Refers to a random elephant)
I saw elephants in a zoo. (No article is required)
3. Indefinite article ‘a, or an’ is used to refer to numbers sometimes.
Example:
The baby is playing with a doll (one doll)
He drove 120 kilometers in an hour (one hour)
4. We do NOT use Indefinite article in case of Non-countable nouns
Non-countable nouns are nouns that have no plural form. We cannot put a number in
front of them. Examples: rice, milk, coffee, advice, time, corn, wheat, and information.
energy, confidence.
Incorrect - There is a water scarcity in my locality
5. Indefinite article (a/an) used before descriptive adjective
Example:
She is an amazing dancer
What a nice Villa!
6. Indefinite article is used with the determiners(few, lot, most)
Example:
There is a little drink in the glass
I have a few guests coming over
7. The article ‘a’ is used before a consonant word or any vowel with a consonant
sound. Similarly, article ‘an’ is used before the words beginning with a vowel or
the letter of consonant word with a vowel sound.
Example
He is an honest man.
A man is sitting on the chair.
He kept us waiting for over an hour.
Jill sold a blue umbrella to Tom.
Roger bought an ugly dog.
Using definite article [The]
1. “The” is used in front of a noun if words in the sentence make the noun specific.
Example:
The people who finished their income taxes early are very happy. (We are
thinking of specific people, and they are they ones who finished their income
taxes early.)
2. “The” is used if the speaker and the listener are thinking of the same person or
thing.
Example:
May I please speak to the secretary? (We are thinking of the same secretary.)
Could you close the door? (We are thinking of the same door.)
3. “The” is used with superlative adjectives.
Example:
Main Street is the busiest road in the city.
4. The, is used in the following conditions;
Decades – He was born in the 1920s.
Currencies –The dollar is getting stronger against the pound.
Superlatives and ordinals – The second book in the series is the best.
Oceans, seas and many rivers –The Nile flows into the Mediterranean.
Plural or ‘united’ countries – The Maldives are much smaller than the United States of
America.
Adjectives used as nouns – The poor will always be a challenge for the rich in any
country.
Many organisations –The World Health Organization has a detailed definition of health.
A scientific categorisation – The zebra is native to Africa.
A symbol – The Merlion is a symbol of Singapore.
Unique people, places or things – The prime minister said she would call a conference on
changes affecting the earth’s climate.
No Articles
We do not need an article if a noun is plural or uncountable and it is not definite.
Example:
Women generally live longer than men.
Articles are difficult to use.
Paint is hard to remove.
