for beginners

Articles are used as modifiers for nouns. However, some nouns do not need to be modified. In this lesson, we will learn about them.

What Are Articles in English?

What Are Articles?

Articles are small words that come before a noun and define it as specific or general.

English Articles

In English, there are two types of articles: 'the' is called the definite article and 'a'/'an' are called the indefinite articles.

Definite Article Indefinite Article
The A/An

Indefinite Articles

'A' and 'an' are called indefinite articles. They are used with singular nouns to refer to any general noun of that type.
The difference between 'a' and 'an' is that 'a' is used before a consonant sound and 'an' is used before a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u):

a an
a boy an apple
a woman an owl
a cat an earring
a strawberry an idea
a monkey an orange

Definite Article

'The' is a definite article. It can be used before a singular or plural noun to refer to a specific or particular noun that is known to both the speaker and the listener. Look at the examples:

I ordered a pizza and a salad. The pizza was nice but the salad was disgusting.

That is the school that Mary went to.

Mary has a dog. The dog's name is Rover.

In the second sentence, it is already clear which dog the speaker is talking about. So, the definite article is used.

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