Articles A / An / The

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.