articles

​Articles

What are articles?

An article is a word that comes before a noun to show whether it’s specific or general.

​Articles

​Indefinite articles

​Definite article

​a , an

​the

​Indefinite articles

The indefinite article takes two forms. It’s the word a when it precedes a word that begins with a consonant e.g. a boy, a cat, a man.

It’s the word an when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel. e.g. an egg, an octopus, an offer

The indefinite article indicates that a noun refers to a general idea or category of a thing rather than a specific thing. 

​The indefinite article a is also used when a noun begins with a consonant sound such as "you" or "w" though the first letter may be a vowel such as:

E.g. a university,

a European country,

a unicorn, a unit, a one-rupee coin, a one man show.

The indefinite article an is also used when a word beginning with a consonant, sounds like a vowel such as the silent h in the words honest, hour, honour. Thus, we have:

an honour,

an honest man,

an hour

​Indefinite articles

​The is called the definite article. The is used in the following cases:

1. To talk about specific things, people or places. we use a or an to talk about something for the first time. The second time when the identity of the thing is known, we use the.

E.g.: A boy was eating ice-cream. The ice-cream fell down and the boy began crying.

2. To refer to something that is only one of its kind:

   E.g.: the sky, the sun, the moon, the Bible, The Taj Mahal

​Definite article

​ 3. Before superlatives and numbers that indicate order or position.

E.g.: This is the best day of my life.

He is the greatest player of all time.

She won the first prize.

4. Before a singular common noun to refer to the whole class.

   E.g: The cow is a useful animal.

   The elephant is the largest animal on land.

​Definite article

​When should we not use articles?

We don’t use the indefinite article with uncountable nouns, or any article with a possessive pronoun. Certain nouns such as nationalities, school subjects, and sports often don’t take articles, especially when they refer to general or abstract ideas.