An article is a small word in English that tells us if a noun (a person, place, or thing) is specific or not.
Articles are small words that come before nouns.
Articles tell our listener if something is general or specific.
There are 3 articles in English
- A
- An
- The
- There are also cases where we would use no article at all.
The
If an article is definite, it means that the speaker and the listener have the same knowledge about the noun.
In English, the definite article is "The." The is used for plural (more than one) or singular (only one) specific nouns.
For Example,
The dog that lives next door ran away.
*The speaker and listener both know which dog the speaker is talking about.
*Sometimes "the" is used with proper nouns. This is not always the case!
For Example,
The Amazon is a major river.
The United States is in North America. (Notice how North America does not have an
article.)
The Johnsons are coming to the party.
Sometimes "the" is not included.
Mary will also be there.
The Lincoln Memorial is in Washington, D.C.
There is one Lincoln Memorial.
We can say speaker and listener know which Lincoln Memorial.
A An
If an article is indefinite, it means that the speaker and listener do not have the same knowledge about the noun.
The speaker is talking about a noun, that the listener does not know about.
An indefinite article is not specific.
For Example,
I would like to eat a steak.
I had an ice cream cone for lunch.
*The listener may not know about specifically which steak or which ice cream. They only know that the sentence is talking about a steak or ice cream cone in general.
A is used when the word after the article begins with a consonent: b,c,d,f,g,h,,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,z
An is used when the word after the article begins with a vowel: a,e,i,o,u
I see a building.
There is one building that the speaker sees .
It is not specific because the speaker is talking about a building in general- not a specific building.
In the Thousand Islands, there is an elegant castle.
The speaker and listener do not share the same knowledge about the castle.
The word after castle begins with a vowel.
In English, no article is needed for names.
No article is needed when the noun is indefinite plural or something that cannot be counted (such as water).
For example:
I went to the mall with Mary. (Not "I went to the mall with the Mary.")
I bought books at the store. (Not "I bought a books at the store")
I would like water with my lunch. (Not "I would like the water with my lunch.")
New York City is beautiful.
No article is needed because it is a definite name.