Definite and Indefinite Articles
Articles – definite and indefinite
A quick and simple guide to the definitive and infinitive article
What is an article?
Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns. English has three articles: ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘an’. We use ‘the’ to refer to specific or particular nouns; We use ‘a’or ‘an’ to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call ‘the’ the definite article and ‘a/an’ are called indefinite articles.
- the = definite article
- a/an = indefinite article
Indefinite Articles: a and an
‘A/an’ are used to refer to one non-specific or non-particular member of the group.
- For example, ‘I would like to go see a movie.’ (Here, we’re not talking about a specific movie. We’re talking about any movie.)
‘A’ and ‘an’ are used to refer to one non-specific item or member of a group.
For example:
- ‘My children want a puppy for Christmas.’
A puppy, any puppy, not one specific puppy. - ‘Please, call a doctor!’
We are not asking for a specific doctor; any doctor will be okay. - ‘When I was at the zoo, I saw a tiger!’
There may be several tigers at the zoo, but we only saw one.
Before vowels producing a ‘y’ sound (as in ‘you’), ‘a’ is used, rather than ‘an’, and we use ‘an’ if the next word starts with a silent ‘h’.
- a unit
- a unicorn
- an hour
The indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ are also used to indicate professions or membership of a group:
- I am a teacher, Paul is an engineer. (Professions)
- Michael is an Irishman. (Michael is a member of the people known as Irish.)
- Silvio is a Buddhist. (Silvio is a member of a group of people called Buddhists)
‘A/an’ can only be used with countable nouns.
- ‘I need a bottle of water.’
- ‘I need a new car.’
Definite Article: ‘the’
‘The’ is used to refer to one specific noun, or a specific member of a group identified by the speaker.
For example:
- Susan reads the bible every night. (We use ‘the bible’ because we are talking about a specific book.)
- I just saw the most popular movie of the year. (There are many movies, but only one movie can be the most popular.)
- Whose is the blue Volvo parked outside? (There are many cars outside, but only one blue Volvo)
- What was the name of the footballer who scored against Chelsea yesterday? (there were many football players, but only one scored against Chelsea yesterday)
- Excuse me, can you tell me where the train station is? (There are many train stations, but only one in this town)
- The dog that bit me was black and white. (We are talking about one dog; the dog which bit me)
- Here’s the book I bought.
- The cat is on the roof.
- He said he would bring the money.
Geographical nouns
There are some specific rules for using ‘the’ with geographical nouns.
We don’t use ‘the’ before:
- Names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; BUT we say the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States, the United Kingdom
- Names of cities, towns, or states: Rome, London, Paris
- Names of streets: Oxford Street, 5th Avenue
- Names of lakes and bays: Lake Ontario, Lake Geneva except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes, the Lake District
- Names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Alps or unusual names like the Matterhorn
- Names of continents (Asia, Europe)
- Names of individual islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) but we use ‘the’ with island chains; the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands
We use ‘the’ before:
- Names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific
- Specific points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
- Geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
- Deserts, (most) forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula
Omission of Articles
Common nouns that don’t take an article are:
- Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian (but we use ‘the’ when referring to the people of the nation: ‘The Spanish are known for their hospitality.’)
- Names of sports: football, rugby, cricket
- Names of academic subjects: mathematics, engineering, history, science