How to correctly use articles: A, AN, THE

Hi again gang!

A, AN and THE

A, An= the general articles (articles count or specify nouns). They are SINGULAR and are similar to the #1, but they explain that the noun you are counting is an example of the category. They are GENERAL in meaning. They are similar in meaning to “any”.

A, An make a noun singular; S makes a noun plural

A goes before a noun that begins with a consonant

AN goes before a noun that begins with a vowel

Nouns in English are singular/plural/non-count. You must stop and think about that every time you use a noun.

If they are singular, you must choose singular/plural. For singular, you MUST add a, an, the or a possessive pronoun (my, his, her…etc.)

“The” is the DEFINITE/SPECIFIC article. It is similar in meaning to: this/these; that/those. It can be singular, plural and non-count. It’s meaning is to make the noun specific.

EXAMPLES: I use a pen for writing (any pen is ok). The pen I’m writing with is red (the specific pen).

“I use pen for writing” is bad English, because the word “pen” is not singular or plural – it’s not counted! You MUST choose singular (a pen).