‘A’, ‘An’, and ‘The’ are articles.

Articles are used before nouns.

 The article
‘a’ is used

before singular countable nouns which begin with

consonant sounds b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z)

examples: a bag, a cat, a fan, a girl, a jug, a kettle, a

lion,etc.

for words beginning with ‘yu’ sound.

examples: a uniform, a university, a unit, a unicorn, a

used car, a useful book, a useless object,
a European, etc.
 The article ‘an’
is used

* before singular countable nouns which begin with vowels

sounds ( a,e,i,o,u).

examples: an ant, an eel, an igloo, an orange, an umbrella, etc.

* for words beginning with silent ‘h’.

examples: an hour, an heir, an honest girl, an honourable man,

etc.
 The article ‘the’
is used
* for plural nouns

examples : the children, the pencils, the schools, etc.

* for uncountable nouns

examples : the smoke, the air, the water, etc.

* when there is only one such place or thing in the

world

examples : the moon, the earth, the sun, the North

Pole,
the South pole, the East, the West, etc.
* to refer to a noun that is mentioned the second
time.

examples : I bought a shirt. The shirt was cheap.

* for a specific person or thing

examples: The man standing under the tree is my

uncle.

* before superlatives

examples : the tallest, the fastest, the strongest, the

most beautiful, etc

* before names of certain countries, oceans and desert.

examples : the United States of America, the Atlantic

Ocean, the Sahara Desert, etc
 Examination tips:
You don’t have to use articles

before the nouns of people and places,

for example:
i) I met Alex last night.
ii) He studies in Japan.

before the names of games, for

example:
We like to play golf.

before the names of meals, for example:

I eat fried chicken for lunch.