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What is an article?
Indefinite articles:
'a' and 'an'
Definite article: 'the'
Definite article used
with uncountable
nouns.
Omission of Articles
Articles are a part of grammar often
included in the word class determiner.
In English, there are two articles: the
indefinite article, a/an, and the definite
article, the.
We use the to refer to something specific,
and a/an to refer to something non-
specific or general.
For example, if we say, “He’s married to
an English woman.”, this could refer to
any English woman, we don’t know
specific which one he’s married to.
If we say, “He’s married to the English
woman.”, we know which specific English
woman he is married to.
Now, let’s have a look at definite article ‘the’.
'the' is used to modify specific nouns when it’s clear
what is being referred to. It can be used with both
countable and uncountable nouns.
For example:
“On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first
person to step on the moon.” We only have one moon,
so we know which specific moon is being referred to here.
Definite article used with
uncountable nouns.
Incidentally, according to the Oxford English Corpus,
'the' also happens to be the word that occurs most
frequently in written English.
An article is a word that goes before a noun, giving
some basic information about the noun, such as if it is
singular or plural, or if the object is specific or general.
The English articles are a, an, some, and the.
There are three indefinite articles in English – two for the
singular form (a, an) and one for the plural form (some).
We use an indefinite article in English when:
We refer to something for the first time
We refer to a general thing, and not something specific
We describe a person’s profession
We use both ‘a’ and ‘an’ in the same way but we use ‘a’
in front of a consonant, and ‘an’ in front of a vowel
(a,e,i,o,u).
Here are some examples:
There’s a cat in the garden!
I need a stamp for this letter.
Sally is an accountant. She works for a multinational
company.
We need an apple and an orange for the fruit salad.
Is there a whiteboard in the classroom?
My husband drives a lorry.
We use ‘some’ for the plural form of all nouns and for
uncountables. (An uncountable noun is a word that only
has the singular form, e.g. ‘sugar’.) For example:
Would you like some wine?
Here are some photos of our last holiday.
We need some milk.
Can you get a carton when you go out?
Some people are sunbathing in the park.
There are some fun places to go in my town.
I eat some biscuits and drink some coffee for
breakfast every day.
The definite article in English is ‘the’, and we can use
it with singular and plural nouns. We use ‘the’ when:
We have already identified the noun we are referring to
in a previous phrase
There is only one of this thing (for example,
‘the station’ – there is only one in the city)
We use certain expressions, especially related to physical
things such as ‘the weather’, ‘the sea’, ‘the environment’.
You can’t go to the post office now. It’s closed.
Can you turn on the television?
The shopping bags are still in the car. I’ll get them.
Where’s the bottle-opener?
The students are waiting for the lesson to start.
The washing machine is broken.
We need to get another one.
The presentation is ready for you to check Mrs. Harper.
What’s the weather like in your country?
It can be difficult to know when not to use an article in
English, especially when you translate from your native
language which has different rules for articles. Here are
the main cases when we don’t use an article:
Don’t use an article with possessive adjectives.
For example, “She’s my friend” and not “She’s a my friend.”
Don’t use an article with a general topic.
For example, compare the following sentences
– I love music. (meaning music in general)
– I love the music you’re playing.
(meaning this specific music)
Don’t put an article in front of country names except when
they include ‘kingdom’, ‘states’ and ‘lands’.
– France (without ‘the’)
– The Netherlands (with ‘the’)
The main thing to remember when you speak is that the
first time you refer to something, you generally need to
use ‘a’ or ‘an’. The second time you refer to the same
thing you can use ‘the’. And when you refer to a unique
thing or place, you can use ‘the’. Here are some
examples of using both ‘a/an’ and ‘the’:
They had a long meeting.
When the meeting ended they had a coffee break.
We need a pen. I think there’s one in the kitchen.
He started here as an office worker.
Now he’s the Managing Director!
We’re planning a holiday. We’ll probably go to the sea.
Being a doctor must be difficult. The doctor I saw yesterday
was very kind.
I must buy some sugar. The sugar bowl is empty.
Now you’ve seen how and when to use definite and
indefinite articles, spend the next few days practicing.
Try reading and listening to some short articles or
stories and videos in English, and pay attention to how
the writers and speakers use articles. By using articles
correctly you will really improve the quality and
accuracy of your English.
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