Articles

There are three types of articles in English. This page gives an overview of these articles.

• the Zero Article (empty)
• the Indefinite Article: a/an
• the Definite Article: the

We use these articles before a noun.

When we talk about a group of nouns in general, we use the zero article (that is, no article at all).

Here we are talking about all cats.

When we talk about one example of a group we use the indefinite article.

Here we are talking about one cat from many

When we talk about one specific example of the group, we use the definite article.

Here we are talking about one special cat

Working with Plurals

When we want to talk about all the nouns in a group, we use the zero article (i.e. nothing):

In this example, we are making a general comment about all cats and all dogs.

When we talk about a sub-group of nouns, we use the definite article, the:

Compare this with:

In the first example above - the men - we're talking about a group of men; in the second example - men - we're talking about all men.

We often use the when we have adjectives or other qualifications of the noun which restrict it:

We can also use the definite article with a singular noun to mean all nouns:

Both of these mean the same thing.

When we use non-countable nouns, we treat them like plural nouns. This is because non-countable nouns have the idea of a large amount:

Sometimes we can choose whether to use an article or not. Both of these are possible:

The article we use here depends on the point of view of the speaker.

Working with Singulars

When we want to talk about a single example of a noun, we can use the definite or indefinite article. When we talk about one noun in general, and it does not matter which one, we use the indefinite article a or an:

In the first example it makes no difference which pen is lent; the speaker does not mind if it is red or blue or old or new, etc. In the second example, the important fact is that there is an elephant in the garden; the speaker is not concerned whether the elephant is old or young, a bull or a cow.

Note: We use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound. Be careful with words like hour which are spelt with a consonant but start with a vowel sound - an hour. Also take care with words like union which are spelt with a vowel but start with a consonant sound - a union.

When we talk about a specific example of a group, we use the definite article, the:

In this example, the speaker does not want any pen, but a special or specific one.

When we are speaking, we often introduce a new subject with a and then, when we talk about it again, we use the:

In this example, the speaker firstly talk s about elephants in general (zero article), then about an example of the genre (indefinite article) and finally about the previously mentioned example (definite article). We use the to talk about a noun we already know about. This can be mentioned previously (as above) or be obvious from the context:

One

The meaning of a/an is one. We do not use one unless we want to specify exactly how many we want.

In general, we do not use one very much and mostly use a or an.