📰 Articles & Their Uses – Definition, Types & Examples

✅ What is an Article?

An article is a word that is used before a noun to define the noun as specific or unspecific.

🔤 Types of Articles

There are three articles in English:

1. Definite Article: the
2. Indefinite Articles: a and an

1. Definite Article: “The”

• Used when referring to a specific or particular noun that is already known to the reader or listener.
• It can be used with singular, plural, or uncountable nouns.

Examples:

• The sun is shining. (specific sun)
• I saw the dog you talked about.
• She is reading the books on the table.

2. Indefinite Articles: “A” and “An”

• Used when referring to a non-specific or any one member of a group.
• Only used with singular countable nouns.

When to use “A”:

Before words starting with a consonant sound.

• a book
• a car
• a university (sounds like ‘you’)

When to use “An”:

Before words starting with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

• an apple
• an elephant
• an hour (silent ‘h’, starts with vowel sound)

🧠 Rules for Using Articles

Rule	Example
Use “a” before consonant sounds	a dog, a house
Use “an” before vowel sounds	an egg, an umbrella
Use “the” for specific nouns	the moon, the teacher
Do not use articles with plural & uncountable nouns when talking generally	I like apples. Water is essential.

🔹 Common Uses of Articles

Use Case	Example
Introducing something for the first time	I saw a cat in the garden.
Talking about something already known	The cat was black.
Talking about a general class (using “a/an”)	She is a doctor.
Talking about a unique object (using “the”)	The sun is bright today.
Before superlatives and ordinal numbers	The best day, the first time

❗ Exceptions and Notes

• No article is used with proper nouns (usually).
• Sometimes, no article is used before abstract nouns when speaking generally.
• Some fixed expressions omit articles (e.g., go to school, at home).

 

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