A(An) vs. The
In part 2 of the English Articles Tutorial, we continue our list of 25 articles usage tips. Here, we introduce the article THE and discuss how to choose between the indefinite articles A(AN) and the definite article THE.
In part 2 of the English Articles Tutorial, we continue our list of 25 articles usage tips. Here, we introduce the article THE and discuss how to choose between the indefinite articles A(AN) and the definite article THE.
A and AN are called indefinite articles. "Indefinite" means "not specific". Use A(AN) when you are talking about a thing in general, NOT a specific thing.
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Use A(AN) when talking about a thing which is new, unknown, or introduced to a listener for the first time. Also use A(AN) when you are asking about the existence of something.
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Similarly, use A(AN) to introduce what type of thing we are talking about.
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REMEMBER: You cannot use A(AN) with plural nouns because A(AN) means "one" or "a single".
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THE is called a definite article. "Definite" means "specific". Use THE when talking about something which is already known to the listener or which has been previously mentioned, introduced, or discussed.
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IMPORTANT: You can use THE with both singular nouns and plural nouns.
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Many clauses and phrases make the noun known to the listener by telling the listener which person or thing we are talking about. Let's look at an example sentence:
Can you give me the book on the table.
We use THE in this sentence because the phrase "on the table" tells the listener which book we are referring to. We are not talking about other books, we are talking about a specific book that the listener can see or already knows about. Learning to recognize such identifying clauses and phrases will help you use THE correctly.
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HOWEVER: Not all clauses and phrases make the noun known to the listener. Some are simply descriptive. They add extra information, but they do not tell the listener which specific thing we are talking about.
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Articles Exercise 7 | Uses 9 - 10 |
Articles Exercise 8 | Uses 9 - 10 |
Articles Exercise 9 | Use 11 |
Articles Exercise 10 | Uses 1 - 11 |
Articles Exercise 11 | Uses 1 - 11 |