A, An, & The - A Review Of Articles

Time for a review of indefinite and definite articles (a, an, and the). Articles are on the most difficult parts of the English language to teach. An ESL learner can spend years learning how to use them. In this post we'll look at how and when to use articles. There will also be exercises to help you practice and there will be a video or two as well.

Indefinite Articles

As you can see above "a" and "an" have the same meaning; the difference is when we use them.

A word that begins with consonant (b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m.n.p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,z), use "a"

Words starting with vowels (a,e,i,o,u, and sometimes y), use "an".

Please study the infographic below.

We use a/an when we're talking about something in general. For example,

I'd like to get a new smartphone.

We saw an eagle during the hike.

Definite Article

We use "the" for specific or unique things. Take a look at the infographic below

Let's use the smartphone example again. Please read the short dialogues below.

A: I'd like to get a new smartphone.

B: Which one? The Sumsung Galaxy 7?

A: No, I was thinking about the Nexus 5X.


The charts below are good guidelines on how to use "the".

Exercise 1

Complete the sentences with "a", "an", "the", or "x" (for no article).

1/

A: There are so many __coffee shops in New Westminster.

B: Let's go to ___Starbucks.

A: Sure. Let's go to ___ Starbucks on East Columbia Street. It's usually not too busy.

B: Great idea. I think I'll order ___ oatmeal raisin cookie with ___ latte.


2/

Barack Obama is ___ 44th president of ___United States of America. He was born in ___ Hawaii, but grew up in ___Chicago. He'll end his political career after ___2016 election on ___8th of November, 2016.

3/

__Uncanny X-Men is __popular comic book series published by ___ Marvel Comics. It was created in ___ 1960s by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but didn't become popular until ___ early 80s. My favourite character from ___ X-Men is ___ Wolverine.


4/

___ Komodo dragon is ___ giant lizard. It can be found on ___ Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. Komodo dragons are members of __ monitor lizard family and are ___ largest living species of lizard.


5/ 

Server: And for you, sir?

Man: Yes, I'd like ___ glass of club soda with ___ lemon wedge, please.

Server: Anything else?

Man: Can you tell me what ___specials are, please?

Server: ___specials for today are ___steak Florentine, chicken Alfredo, and
            salmon steak.

Man: Okay, I'll have ___ salmon steak and ___ spinach salad, please. 

Server: Very good. I'll bring ___ drinks over in a minute. 


The next exercise is from ESL @ About.com.

Definite & Indefinite Articles Quiz



For extra study on articles, check out EngVid's Rebecca, Ronnie, James, and Jade.