Indefinite and definite articles: a, an, the

Mtra. Lidie Susana Cortés Fernández

Escuela Preparatoria Número 4

Key words:

Articles, singular and plural nouns, countable and uncountable

nouns, general and specific.

Summary:

The definite and indefinite articles are considered to be of great

importance in the English language. Theyare used to talk about

plural or singular nouns and countable or uncountable nouns and to

tell whether they are general or specific.

a

The indefinite article “a”

• We use the indefinite article “a” before singular countable nouns, when we are not referring to a specific item.

• We use “a” with words that start with a consonant sound.

a book a sofa

an

an

The indefinite article “an”

• We use the indefinite article “an” before singular countable nouns, when we are not referring to a specific item.

• We use “an” with words that start with a vowel sound.

an arm an insect

The definite article “the”

• We use the definite article “the” before uncountable and countable nouns, both in the singular and in the plural.

• When we are referring to something or someone in specific.

the planet Mars the girl next door