ARTICLES

 

A - With consonants - indefinite

An - With vowel sound - indefinite

The - definite

We use a before words that begin with a consonant sound. Some words start with a vowel letter but begin with a consonant sound. So we use a before these words too.

Ex:- a university

        a European 

        a one parent family

we use an before words that begin with a vowel sound.

Ex:- an Orange 

        an Italian

        an Umbrella 

These include words that begin with a silent letter 'h'

• an hour

• an honest girl

• an honour

• an heir

• an MP

• an FBI 

• an IOU

• a NATO (general)

• a FIFA (official)

• we'll be in Australia for one (or a) year.

• Wait here for one (or a) minute, I'll be with you.

• She scored one (or a) hundred and eighty points.

• Do you want one sandwich or two?

• Are you staying just one night?

• I just look one look at her and she started crying.

• I really need a cup of tea.

• You can never find a paper clip in this office.

• three times a year.

• a quarter of an hour.

• a day

• a week

• a few

• a little

• a huge number of 

• She's a colleague of mine

• That's a friend of Ranjan's

• English has become an international language.

• Sydney is a beautiful city.

• English has become the international language of business.

• Sydney is the capital city of New South Wales.

• She was a company director when she retired.

• Against her parent's wishes she wants to become a journalist.

We use the before a superlative adjective.

• He is the finest young player.

• These paintings are the most unusual in the collection.

• It was the cheapest.

• the sun

• the world

• the North Pole

• the jet age

• the international market

• the travel industry

• the arms trade 

• the weather

• the climate

• the human race

• the atmosphere

• the sea 

• the public

• the environment

• the sky

• the ground

• the wind

• the future

• the past

• Helanika just bought a house she brought the house in Wilson Street.

• A Korean student in our class has had to go home.

• The Korean student has had to go home.

• There is a bus coming.

• The bus is coming.

• What do you think of the table?

• These tastes lovely. What's in the sauce?

• The tree looks beautiful now.

And abbreviations said as individual letters that begin with A, E, F, H, I , L , M,  N , R, S or X

• an MP
• an FBI
• an IOU

but compare abbreviations said as words.

• a NATO (general)
• a FIFA (official)

we can use a/an before singular countable noun. Sometimes we can use either a/an or one.

• We'll be in Australia for one (or a ) year.
• Wait here for one (or a) minute,I'll be with you.
• She scored one (or a)hundred and eighty points.

We use one rather than a/an if we want to emphasis that we are talking about only one thing or person rather than two or more.

We use one, not a/an in the pattern one.... other /another.

• Close one eye,and then the other.
• Bees carry Pollen from one plant to another.

We use a for the following.

• I really need a cup of tea
• You can never find a paper clip in this office
• three times a year
• a quarter of an hour
• a day
• a week
• a few
• a little
• a huge number of
• she's a colleague of mine
• That's a friend of Ranjan's

The and a/an

We use a/an with a singular noun when we describe someone or something to say what type of thing someone or something is.

• English has become an international language.
• Sydney is a beautiful city.

 But if we say that someone or something is unique - that there is only one,or that it is the only one of it's kind - we use the but not a/an.

• English has become the international language of business.
• Sydney is the capital city of New South Wales.

We use a/an to say what a person's job is,was or will be.

• She was a company director when she retired.
• Against her parent's wishes she wants to become a journalist.

We use the when we know that there is only one of a particular thing.

• the sun
• the world
• the North Pole
• the jet age
• the international market
• the travel industry
• the arms trade

The same applies to the following things when we refer to them in general way.

• the weather 
• the climate
• the human race
• the atmosphere
• the sea
• the public
• the environment
• the sky
• the ground
• the wind
• the future
• the past

We use the when we expect the listener or reader to be able to identify the thing or person we are talking about and we use a/an when we don't.

• Helanika just bought a house she brought the house in Wilson Street.
• A Korean student in our class had to go home.
• The Korean student has had to go home.
• There is a bus coming.
• The bus is coming.

We also use when it is clear from the situation which person or thing we mean.

• What do you think of the table?
• These tastes lovely. What's in the sauce?
• The tree looks beautiful now.