Ever wondered what those words are before nouns that you see everywhere? Well, look no further; here, we will explain the grammar in an easy bitesize way so you can soon be the master of using articles!
In its most basic form, the article's in English grammar work like adjectives; in fact, they are a type of adjective because they modify nouns. There are three articles in English:
These three articles function differently in helping define a noun as definite or indefinite.
The definite article 'the' is always used before a noun when the identity is known or common. You can use it before a singular, plural, or uncountable noun.
Example sentences using 'the':
Let's look at the following example, using 'the and a.'
V.S.
2. I'd like the bar of chocolate!
The 1st example doesn't specify what type of chocolate bar is wanted. However, in the 2nd example, it’s known what chocolate bar is wanted.
The indefinite articles, ''A and An', are used before a general noun or when a noun's identity is unknown or unspecific, but they have specific grammatical structures.
'A' is used before a singular noun, beginning with an English consonant sound. For example:
Instead of saying:
You would say:
Pepper begins with the consonant sound 'p,' meaning we use the article 'a.' The indefinite article also indicates that the pepper in question is singular, so we don't add -s at the end.
Note: If the pepper is plural (peppers), you use 'the.'
Example sentences using a:
Likewise, 'an' is used before non-specific nouns, for example:
V.S.
In the 1st example, the umbrella is a non-descript one, whereas the 2nd umbrella is likely one the person already owns.
'An' is also used with singular nouns that begin with a vowel sound. So,
Instead of saying:
You would say:
This is because the word orange begins with the vowel sound 'o,' so you use the indefinite article, 'an.'
Example sentences using an:
To understand how to use these articles in English, it's also important to understand that nouns, which articles modify, are either countable or uncountable.
Nouns can be countable or uncountable, meaning you can identify precisely how many there are of that particular thing or not.
With singular countable nouns, we either use 'an or 'a.'
Countable nouns are ones that you can place a valued number on; for example:
Example sentences using 'an' with singular countable nouns:
Example sentences using 'a' with singular countable nouns:
However, some nouns are uncountable, meaning they can't be divided into a number value.
'The' can be used for all nouns, including uncountable ones, but we never use 'an' or 'a' with uncountable nouns.
For example:
These nouns are modified by 'the.'
As you can see with the noun dog, without the plural -s, it can be countable and therefore uses 'a'; however, with the addition of -s, we use the article 'the' as its plural.
Example sentences using 'the' with uncountable nouns:
Although articles are used in almost every sentence, sometimes they aren't necessary, referred to as the zero article phrase.
Singular, countable nouns always need an article to precede them. However, plural and uncountable nouns don't always require an article.
Generally speaking, you aren't required to use an article in the following circumstances:
Example sentences without an article:
Here are a few tips and tricks to remember what article you need to use and whether you even need one!