Articles & Determiners

Articles: A, An, The

Articles are a type of determiner that introduce nouns.

Indefinite Articles: A / An

Use a or an when referring to something non-specific or mentioned for the first time.

• A before consonant sounds: a dog, a university (sounds like "yoo")
• An before vowel sounds: an apple, an hour (the 'h' is silent)

She bought a book. (we don't know which book)

Definite Article: The

Use the when the noun is specific or already known to both speaker and listener.

She bought the book you recommended. (a specific book)

Use the with:

• Unique things: the sun, the moon, the internet
• Superlatives: the best, the tallest
• Rivers, oceans, mountain ranges: the Amazon, the Pacific

Zero Article

Use no article with:

• General uncountable nouns: I love music. / Life is short.
• Most country names: She lives in France.
• Meals, languages, subjects: We had lunch. She speaks German.

Other Determiners

Determiners include: this, that, these, those, some, any, much, many, few, several, every, each.

• I'll take some water. / Each student must try.