The Indefinite and Definite Articles in English | Using A, AN, THE

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The Indefinite and Definite Articles! In this lesson, you will learn the use of articles A, AN, THE in English to master your English grammar.

The Indefinite and Definite Articles

Using Indefinite Article – A

• A is used in front of singular countable nouns ( a person, animal or thing ) which are not specific.
• We don’t use a before uncountable or plural nouns.
• If a noun starts with a consonant sound (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, etc.), “a” comes before the noun.

Examples:

• a dog
• a chicken
• a boy
• a teacher
• a girl
• a lesson
• a website

Using Indefinite Article – An

• An is used in front of singular countable nouns which are not specific.
• We don’t use a before uncountable or plural nouns.
• If the noun starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u), “an” comes before the noun.

Examples:

• an umbrella
• an owl
• an apple
• an image
• an hour
• an enemy
• an author
• an army

Using Definite Article – The

We use ‘the’ in front of all nouns ( It does not matter whether the nouns are singular, plural countable or uncountable ) to describe someone or something specific or unique.

Examples:

• the Moon
• the world
• the Sun
• the atmosphere
• the rain
• the South
• the West
• the North

The Indefinite and Definite Articles | Infographic

The Indefinite and Definite | Quiz

Read these questions below and chose the best answer!