Definite and Indefinite
Articles
Definite and Indefinite Articles
The English language uses articles to identify nouns. Articles act much like
adjectives. Articles clarify whether a noun is specific or general, singular or plural.
An article appears before the noun it accompanies.
General rules:
Place the article before the noun.
• e.g., the house, the cat, a dog, a book.
Place the article before the adjective when the noun is modified by an adjective.
• e.g., the purple house, the black cat, a white dog, an open book.
• We do not say: the house purple, or a dog white.
Do not add an article when the noun has a possessive pronoun (my, his, her, our,
their) or a demonstrative pronoun (this, that). e.g., my house her book that house this
book.
Definite and Indefinite Articles
English has two articles: the and a/an. The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns;
a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite
article and a/an the indefinite article.
the = definite article
a/an = indefinite article
For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I say, "Let's read a
book," I mean any book rather than a specific book.
Here's another way to explain it: The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of
a group. For example, "I just saw the most popular movie of the year." There are many
movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the.
Definite and Indefinite Articles
"A/an" is used to refer to a 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. There are
many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in
mind.
Let's look at each kind of article a little more closely.
Indefinite Articles: a and an
"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a
group. For example:
• "My daughter really wants a dog." This refers to any dog. We don't know which dog
because we haven't found the dog yet.
• "Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any policeman. We don't need a specific
policeman; we need any policeman who is available.
• "When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here, we're talking about a single, non-
specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably several elephants at the
zoo, but there's only one we're talking about here.
Use a or an only for singular nouns.
Do not use an article for a plural, indefinite noun.
Definite Article: the
Use the to identify specific or definite nouns: nouns that represent things,
places, ideas, or persons that can be identified specifically.
Use the with both singular and plural definite nouns.
• e.g., the house: the houses, the school: the schools.
Use the to identify things, places, ideas, or persons that represent a specific or
definite group or category.
• e.g., The students in Professor Smith’s class should study harder.
Geographical use of the
There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.
Do not use the before:
• Names of most countries/territories: Morocco, Italy, Mexico, Bolivia;
however, the Netherlands, the Dominican, the United states.
• Names of cities, towns, or states: Tiznit, Oujda, Paris.
• Names of streets.
• Names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of
lakes like the Great Lakes.
• Names of continents: Asia, Africa
• Names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of
mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the
Matterhorn
Article
with countable and uncountable nouns
The can be used with countable and uncountable nouns:
• He spilled the milk all over the floor (some specific milk, perhaps the milk you
bought earlier that day) or He spilled milk all over the floor (any milk).
"A/an" can be used only with count nouns:
• I need a bottle of water.
• I need a new glass of milk.
Most of the time, you can't say, "She wants a water,"
Exercise
Fill in the gaps with the correct article (a, an, the, 0) when necessary.
I am from Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is______ city in ____ United
Kingdom. I live in ____ town called _____ Taunton which is on ______ River
Tone. I live in ___ house in ______ quiet street in _____ countryside. ____ street is
called “Hudson Street” and _____ house is more than 100 years old! I am ___
English lecturer at _____ college near _____center of _____town. I like _____
books, music and taking _____ photographs. I usually have _____ lunch at college.
I usually go --___home____ by___ car. We have all kinds of food in _____
England. I like ______ Polish food very much. Sometimes, I go to _____ Polish
restaurant in Bath. ____ restaurant is called “Magda’s”. _____ Polish food is
delicious.
I am from Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is____a__ city in ___the United
Kingdom. I live in __a__ town called __0___ Taunton which is on__the____
River Tone. I live in _a__ house in ____a__ quiet street in___the__ countryside.
___The_ street is called “Hudson Street” and ___the__ house is more than 100
years old! I am _an__ English lecturer at ___a__ college near ___the__ center of
__the___town. I like ___0__ books, music and taking ___0__ photographs. I
usually have __0___ lunch at college. I usually go _0__home by_0__ car. We
have all kinds of food in ___0__ England. I like ___0___ Polish food very much.
Sometimes, I go to__a___ Polish restaurant in Bath. __The__ restaurant is called
“Magda’s”. __The___ Polish food is delicious.
