Articles 101

Definite and Indefinite Articles

The - a- an

What Are Articles?

Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific. 

The definite article is the.

The indefinite article is a / an.

The indefinite article: 'a' an'd 'an

• We use the indefinite article, a/an, with singular nouns when the listener/reader does not know exactly which one we are referring to:Police are searching for a 14-year-old girl.

• We also use it to show that the person or thing is She is a pupil at London Road School.

• We do not use an indefinite article with plural nouns or uncount nouns:

a - an

• We will meet in an hour

• She works in a hospital

• How long does it take on the train?

​The indefinite article only appears with singular nouns. 

Important!

​INDEFINITE

​EXCEPTIONS

Multiple Choice

In which word do you use the article "an"?

• apple

• park

• notebook

Multiple Choice

She is ___ beautiful girl.

• a

• an

• the

• -

Multiple Choice

My uncle is___ architect.

• a

• the

• an

• --

Multiple Choice

In which word do you use the article "a"?

• apple

• onion

• university

Multiple Choice

She is wearing ___ old dress.

• the

• a

• _

• an

The Definite Article

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the listener/reader knows exactly what we are referring to:

The definite article: 'the'

• We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the listener/reader knows exactly what we are referring to:

  because there is only one: The Pope is visiting Russia.

  The moon is very bright tonight.
  The president of Colombia is in New York.

The definite article: 'the'

• This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:He is the tallest boy in the class.

  It is the oldest building in the town.

• because there is only one in that context: We live in a small house next to the church. (= the church in our village)

  Dad, can I borrow the car? (= the car that belongs to our family)

The definite article: 'the'

• because we have already mentioned it: A young man got a nasty shock when he tried to rob a jewellery shop in Richmond. The man used a heavy hammer to smash the windows in the shop.

• to say something about all the things referred to by a noun: The wolf is not really a dangerous animal. (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals.)

Multiple Choice

They read ___ newspaper every morning.

• __

• the

• an

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option to the sentence below.

I saw _____ insect flying in my room. ______insect was _____ mosquito.

• an, an , a

• an, x, a

• an , the, a

• an , the, an

Multiple Choice

There’s _____ Chinese restaurant in _____ center of the city that makes _____ most delicious

food in _____ world.

• a / the / the / the

• the / a / the / the

• the / the / a / the

• the / the / the / a

The definite article: 'the'

• We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments: to refer to a system or service:

• We can also use the definite article with adjectives like rich, poor, elderly and unemployed to talk about groups of people 

More uses of English articles

• Rivers, mountain ranges, seas, oceans and geographic areas all use ‘the‘.

  For example, “The Thames”, “The Alps”, “The Atlantic Ocean”, “The Middle East”.

• Unique things have ‘the’.

  For example, “the sun”, “the moon”.

• 
  

• 
  

More uses of English articles

• Musical instruments use ‘the‘.

  “She plays the piano.”

• Sports don’t have an article.

  “He plays football.”

• Illnesses don’t have an article.

  “He’s got appendicitis.”

  But we say “a cold” and “a headache”.

• Jobs use ‘a’.

  “I’m a teacher.”

More uses of English articles

• Countries

  We don’t use ‘a’ if the country is singular. “He lives in England.” But if the country’s name has a “plural” meaning, we use ‘the’. “The People’s Republic of China”, “The United States of America”.

• Continents, towns and streets don’t have an article.“Africa”, “New York”, “Church Street”.

• Theatres, cinemas and hotels have ‘the’.

  “The Odeon”, “The Almeira”, “The Hilton”.

• Abbreviations use ‘the’.

  “the UN”, “the USA”, “the FBI”.

Definite and Indefinite Article; what is the difference? The difference between these are in the following two sentences:

• Give me the chocolate chip cookie (this speaks about a particular cookie, it's defined, there's a plate full of different cookies; peanut butter, sugar, oatmeal raisin, and chocolate chip)

• Give me a cookie please. ( it's asking for any cookie)

Multiple Choice

This is _____ worst idea you’ve ever had. We need to find _____ better way to do this.

• the / the

• a / the

• the / a

• a / a

Multiple Choice

In which sentence do you use the article "The" as only one thing and specifies something?

• The books are amazing knowledge for everybody.

• The restaurants have different delicious dishes everyday.

• The moon rotates around the Earth.

NO ARTICLE

1. Cuando hablamos de algo en general.

-I like ice cream.(Me gusta el helado.)

2. Nunca utilizaremos “the” cuando nos referimos a la televisión, las horas de las comidas, los días de la semana, la hora, los meses del año, las estaciones o los años.

-I do not like to watch television [TV].(No me gusta ver la televisión [tele].)

3. Con instituciones y modos de transporte, cuando estamos hablando en general.

-We like school.(Nos gusta la escuela.)

4. No se utiliza el artículo con nombres de ciudades ni nombres de lugares en general, aunque hay algunas excepciones como hemos visto en el apartado anterior. Además, no se utiliza el artículo con lagos o calles.

- I went to Lake Titicaca.(Fui al lago Titicaca.)

-She lives on Flores Street.(Vive en la calle Flores.)

Multiple Choice

___ cats are adorable.

• a

• an

• __

• the

Multiple Choice

All the sentences below are correct , except.....

• We had a great time on our summer holiday.

• He has to go a very important meeting on the Tuesday.

• What is the correct answer?

• The oranges in Spain are very sweet.

Multiple Choice

You work in __ hospital.

• __

• an

• a

• the

Multiple Choice

Your brother is__ lawyer and your sister is__ actress.

• the/a

• an/an

• a/ an

• ___

Multiple Choice

Do you like ___ coffee?

• an

• __

• a

• the

Multiple Choice

__ Dogs hate __ cats.

• a/ __

• __/ the

• __ / __

• the/ __

Multiple Choice

___ German is difficult to learn.

• an

• a

• __

• the

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct article: a, an, the or x.

Please, don't tell me _____ story of your life !

• a

• an

• the

• x

Multiple Choice

I want to buy __ car. ___ car is black. I think black is __ best color for __ cars.

• __ / a/ an/__

• a/ an/ the/ the

• the/ an/__/the

• a/ the/the/__