4. Articles – Rules, Usage, and Examples

🔹 Types of Articles

TypeArticlesExample
Definite ArticletheThe sun, the book
Indefinite Articlea, ana cat, an apple

🔹 A. Indefinite Articles – “a” and “an”

✅ Use “a” before a word that starts with a consonant sound.

Examples:

  • a book

  • a car

  • a university (“you” sound is consonant)

✅ Use “an” before a word that starts with a vowel sound.

Examples:

  • an apple

  • an umbrella

  • an honest man (“honest” starts with vowel sound “o”)

❌ It’s not about the spelling—it’s about the sound.

CorrectIncorrect
an houra hour ❌
a universityan university ❌

🔹 B. Definite Article – “the”

“The” is used to refer to specific or known people, places, or things.

✅ Use “the” when:

  1. There is only one of something:

    • the sun, the moon, the sky

  2. The listener/reader knows what you're talking about:

    • I saw the movie you mentioned.

  3. Mentioning something a second time:

    • I saw a dog. The dog was barking.

  4. Superlatives:

    • the best, the tallest

  5. Ordinal numbers:

    • the first time, the second chapter

  6. Names of oceans, rivers, and mountain ranges:

    • the Pacific Ocean, the Nile, the Himalayas

🔹 C. When Not to Use Articles

❌ No article before:

  • Plural, general nouns: Books are useful.

  • Uncountable nouns (when general): Water is essential.

  • Names of countries, cities, languages: India, English, Paris

✅ But use the when:

  • The country name is plural: The Netherlands, The Philippines

  • The noun is specific: The water in this glass is dirty.

🔹 D. Special Cases and Exceptions

CaseRuleExample
Unique objectsUse “the”The Earth, The Internet
Musical instrumentsUse “the”He plays the guitar.
InventionsUse “the”The telephone changed history.
Names with “of”Use “the”The University of Oxford
Public placesUse “the”The cinema, the bank

🔹 Examples – A, An, The

  • I bought a new phone. The phone has a great camera.

  • She is an honest person.

  • He went to the library to borrow a book.

  • I saw a cat in the garden. The cat was black.

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