Articles: A, An, The

Fun Grammar Lessons

1 Grammar Notes
A. Introduction
An article is a little word that comes
before a noun (a person, place, or thing).
English articles include a, an, and the.

A / An / 0
/ The
Use a and an before a singular (one) Use the before singular and plural
noun. This noun must be general. nouns. These nouns must be specific.
General means you can’t see the noun Specific means you can see the noun
and/or you don’t know which noun it is. and/or you know which noun it is.

• I want to buy a dress. • Look at the chair.

You can’t see the dress, and I bought the chair yesterday.
you don’t know which dress it is. You can see the chair.

• I bought a new bicycle. • Here are the games

You can’t see the bicycle right now. that I told you about.
You know which games they are.
Use a before a consonant, and
use an before a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).

• I have a cat.

• I have an iPhone.

Use 0
/ (no article) before a plural
(two or more) noun that is general.

• I want to buy shoes.  (no article)

• I bought pens and books.  (no article)

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 Articles: A, An, The
Fun Grammar Lessons

1 Grammar Notes cont.

A. Introduction cont.
Here is a chart to help you:

General Specific
(any one / you don’t know which one) (a certain one / you know which one)

The
A or An
Singular • Do you want to buy
(1) • I want to buy
the blue dress or
a flower for my mom.
the red dress?

0
/ (no article) The
Plural
(2 or more) • I want to buy • Do you want to
flowers for my mom. buy the dresses?

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. (VERSION 1.0) 3
 Articles: A, An, The
Fun Grammar Lessons

1 Grammar Notes cont.

B. Notes

Note #1 Note #3
Use the when there Use the with a general noun when
is only one of the noun. the noun is followed by that and
information that describes it
• the sun, the moon (in the sky)
(called an adjective clause).
• the mall, the library  (in a city)
• The shoes that I wear every day are red.

• The TV that I want to buy is really big.

Note #2
Use the for the second mention
Note #4
of a noun.
In most cases, use a/an/0/ with a
• I bought a laptop yesterday.
The laptop was expensive. specific noun when the sentence starts
with “There is/are” and includes a
• I want a new puppy.
preposition. Use the after the preposition.
The puppy must be toilet trained.
• There is a green dress on the hanger.

• There are green dresses on the hangers.

(no article before “dresses”)

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. (VERSION 1.0) 4