Articles
There are two types of articles： Definite and Indefinite.
Articles are type of adjective and type of determiner. They are always used with a noun. Similarly, many singular forms of nouns must be used with an article.
In many languages, including French, German, and Spanish, the article tells the reader whether a word is feminine, masculine, or neutral. In English, very few words have a gender.
The definite article
The definite article is the. It always precedes a noun and refers to a specific person or thing. This person or thing may have been mentioned before, or there may be only one to talk about. Alternatively, it may be clear from the context which noun is being referred to.
The rhinoceros and his best friend, an elephant, took a bus to visit the struggling ostrich at flying school.
the rhinoceros - There is only one rhinoceros on the bus, so the definite article is used.
The indefinite article
The indefinite article a or an is used to refer to anyone person or thing. Words that begin with consonants (bus) use a, while words that start with a vowel (a,e,i,o, or u) or a silent h, such as hour, use an to make pronunciation easier.n The indefinite article also indicates that someone or something belongs to a specific group. For example, "The animal is a giraffe" explains that this particular animal is one of many members of a group of animals known as giraffes.
a bus - The indefinite article indicates that this could be one of a number of buses, whereas the definite article the would refer to one particular bus.
an elephant - the form an is used before a vowel to make it easier to say.
Articles and adjectives
If a noun is preceded by one or more descriptive adjectives, the article goes before the adjective. The resulting phrase ( article + adjective + noun ) is known as a noun phrase. If the indefinite article is used in front of an adjective that begins with a vowel, the form an is used.
the struggling ostrich - The article precedes the adjective struggling, which goes before the noun ostrich.
an anxious rhinoceros - The adjective anxious begins with a vowel, so an is used.
The zero article
Some words, such as school, life, and home, take the definite article when a particular one is being referred to, and the indefinite article when one of several is being described. When these words are used to describe a general concept, such as being at school. the article is removed. This absence of an article is known as the zero article.
at flying school - This describes school as a concept a place where a person goes to learn something - so the zero article ( no article) is used.
at the flying school next to the zoo - This describes a particular school - the one next to the zoo - so the is required.
Identifying when to use an article
If a singular noun can be counted, this noun will require an article- definite or indefinite. For example, " I saw elephant today " doesn't make sense. Some nouns, such as happiness, information, and bread, do not have a plural form, and therefore cannot be counted. These nouns can be used without an article ( zero article) or with the definite article. They never take the indefinte article.
elephant - This noun can be counted, so the definite or indefinite article can be used.
one elephant
two elephants
the elephant
an elephant
bread - This noun can not be counted
one bread - the definite article can be used for a specific piece of bread.
two bread
the bread - the zero article is used for the concept of bread in general
- Many geographical areas and features, including rivers, deserts, and oceans, use definite article: for example, the North Pole, the Pacific Ocean, or the Rocky Mountains.
- If an article is at the begging of the title of a work, such as The Secret Garden, it should start with a capital letter.
- Unique things, such as the sun, always take the.
- Watch out for words that begin with a vowel that sounds like a consonant, such as a university. These take the indefinite article a rather than an.