According to the website grammarly.com, articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific.
Before talking about articles, let’s see the difference between countable and uncountable nous.
- Countable nouns can be counted individually – a house, a country, an orange, a computer, a bottle, etc.
- Uncountable – can’t be counted by unit: water, air, money, spaghetti, coffee, etc.
An article ( A; An; The ) modifies or describes a noun.
- a house
- an apple
- the car
There are two kinds of articles, Definite and Indefinite.
Indefinite Article – A / An
1. The indefinite article (A/An) is used before countable and singular nouns.
- A book = any book.
- An apple = any apple.
- A movie = any movie.
2. the indefinite article can be understood as a synonym for “one”:
- There is a book on the table. = one book
- There is a cat on the wall = one cat
- There is a tree in the backyard. = one tree
A ou An?
The use of “A” or “An” depends on the sound of the substantive following the article.
A: used before consonant sounds
- a dog
- a car
- a CD
- a table
- a pencil
An: used before vowel sounds
- an apple
- an egg
- an iron
- an orange
- an umbrella
Attention !!!
It is important to observe the sound of the initial word of the noun:
House; Hospital; Hippo; Hero
The “H” sounds like a consonant:
A house; A hospital, A hippo, A hero.
No, check this other group or words:
Hour; Honor; Honest; Heir
The “H” is mute, therefore:
An hour; An honor; An honest man; An heir
Definite Article – The
1. The definite article “the” is used before singular or plural, countable or uncountable nouns.
- The star ( singular ); the stars ( plural)
- The dollars ( countable ); the money ( uncountable)
2. The definite article “the” specifies something or someone known or already mentioned before.
- The city = any city
- The present = any present
- The flowers = any flowers
3. “The” is used before specific and unique nouns:
- Unique: The sun; the moon; the sky; the president. ( there is only one )
- Specific: The book; the man; the problem; the country. ( known or mentioned before)
There is a girl on the street. The girl is crying a lot.
When we say: “a girl”, we refer to any girl, no one specific, a persona meet for the first time.
However, all the other times a mention the same girl a must use “the” because from this time on the girl is specific/known.
Indefinite article X Definite article
Check the difference between the two sentences:
Let’s go to the cinema to see a movie.
Let’s go to the cinema to see the movie.
“A movie” refers to any movie available at the movie theater.
“The movie” refers to a specific movie, the one I want to see.
Check other examples:
- A car – any car
- The car – a specific car
- A dress – any dress
- The dress – a specific dress
- A song – any song
- The song – a specific song
Time to practice!!😍😍😍
Download the activities and check your progress on Articles.
