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Articles
Go to The Guide to Grammar and Writing section on Articles
Using articles
The words the and a (with its alternative form an) are called articles. The is the definite article and a and an are the indefinite articles. Both kinds of articles introduce nouns, but other words may come between the articles and the nouns they introduce.
Understanding the history of these words can help you decide which article to use. The comes from a kind of adjective called a demonstrative, which is used to point things out (this and that are modern forms of the same word). A is related to the number one.
Here are some rules that you may find helpful:
Making decisions about articles
The words this and that refer to objects that have already been mentioned or that can be pointed to. Similarly, the is used when the noun it introduces has already been identified or discussed. The is also used to introduce a noun that names something specific. The is used in both ways in the following passage:
When Lucy’s parents gave her a new bicycle for her birthday, she seemed very pleased with it. However, an hour later they saw the bicycle lying neglected in the driveway.
The first the refers to the bicycle already mentioned in the previous sentence (and not some other bicycle). The second the refers specifically to Lucy’s parents’ driveway.
The indefinite article is related to the number one used in the sense “any one.” In other words, a and an indicates one of a category of things without saying specifically which one. Look at the way a is used in the following sentence:
Lucy’s parents saw a bicycle in the driveway.
Here, “a bicycle” refers to any bicycle and is not definite about which one.
A is used before consonant sounds
A car
A moose
A zoo
An is used before vowel sounds:
An apple
An elephant
An hour
Use an before a word that starts with a vowel sound even though the first letter is a consonant:
An honest man
An honor
An hour
When a word starts with an h sound, use a:
A history class
Use a, not an, before vowels that sound like consonants:
A one o’clock appointment (the o in one sounds like a w)
A university (the u in university sounds like a y)
Making decisions about articles
Some general rules can help you choose articles correctly:
A, an, and the are used with singular count nouns, such as answer and banana.
Only the can be used with plural count nouns, such as answers and bananas.
The, but not a and an, is used with mass nouns: “the air,” “the butter.”
Normally, no article is used with nouns that refer to all representatives of a class or to ideas expressed in a general way, as in the following examples:
People are funny.
Studying takes discipline.
In contrast, when these words refer to specific situations, the is used:
The people I work with are funny.
The studying I did last semester took discipline.
While these guidelines should be helpful to you, your greatest aid in determining which article to use is familiarity with the English language. If in doubt, try consulting a large dictionary to see how the articles are used in sample phrases and sentences.
The (the definite article) and a and an (the indefinite articles) introduce nouns.
a is used before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds.