Course: Grammar Diploma
Unit 6: Other parts of speech
Article
A word that is used to point out or refer to a noun. It precedes a noun and can be definite (the) or indefinite (a/an).
Unlike phrasal verbs, where there are thousands of examples to remember, with articles there are only three you need to know in English, and these come in two different types.
The definite article – the
This article is used to refer directly to a specific, or definite, noun or a group of nouns, for example: the homework on Alicja’s desk, the desk in Alicja’s classroom, the classrooms in the school where Alicja works.
We use the to talk about unique things and use it with a number of expressions to relate to our physical environment or things in our lives that are commonly known.
Here are some other examples for you:
- The French are stylish dressers.
- The town is less preferable to the country.
- The weather can be a little wet in Costa Rica, but the mountains make up for it.
- That’s Brad Pitt, the actor.
It’s not as universal as you might think, though, as we do not use it for proper nouns or things when speaking generally. Here are two examples:
- My name’s Bond (Not the Bond)
- Coffee is delicious. (We are not talking about any specific coffee here so we leave out ‘the’.)
The indefinite article – a/an
We use the indefinite article when we’re not being definite about something, for instance when we refer to a non-specific noun or a group of nouns.
Examples of this include:
- Jack eats an apple every day.
- Ollie lives in a large flat.
- Anne has a car.
We use a/an to talk about one thing when it does not matter which one it is, when it is not known, or to talk about any one member of a group.
- Alicja lent Ollie a pen. (It doesn’t matter which pen)
- Anne lives in a beautiful flat. (The listener doesn’t know which one)
- An octopus has eight tentacles. (Referring to any healthy octopus)
When we are talking generally, we tend to use the indefinite article and when we are specifically referring to a particular, or definite, object we’ll use the definite article.
Compare the following:
- Ollie passed a grammar book to his student (it could be any grammar book)
- Ollie passed the grammar book to his student (a specific book – both Ollie and the student know which book it is).
With the indefinite article, though, we also have a plural version – so we’ll use some/any instead of a/an.
This is relatively straightforward, but here are some examples of how this works:
- Alicja passed some handouts to her students.
- Ollie asked if there were any spare pens.
- Jack decided to book some days off.
- Anne didn’t have any chairs.
