Articles refer to the three words a, an, and the. These words modify a noun and appear before it. Articles do not exist on their own.
Types of articles
There are two types of articles: indefinite and definite. The two indefinite articles are a and an. The definite article is the.
How and when are they used?
The articles a and an are used before singular countable nouns.
We use a before a singular noun beginning with a consonant or consonant sound.
We use an before a singular noun beginning with a vowel or vowel sound.
We do not use a and an before plural nouns and before uncountable nouns.
The article the is used when we mention something for the second time: I have a cap-first time. The cap is red-second time.
It is also used
- For certain countries: The US. the UK, the UAE
- For historical monuments The Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty
- For mountain ranges: The Himalayas, the Alps
- For group of islands: The Caribbean Islands, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- For oceans, rivers, deserts: The Atlantic, the Thar, the Ganga
- For unique things in the universe: The Sun, the Moon
- For newspapers and holy books: The Hindu, the Bible For designations of people: The Queen, the President
- With nationalities: The French, the English
- With superlative forms: The best, the longest
- With ordinals: the first, the second.
- With musical instruments: The violin, the piano
- With directions: The west, the east
The zero article
Zero article means ‘no article’. We do not use any article when we refer to: countries, cities, streets, single mountain peak, single island, languages, public buildings, transport continents, names of people, games, meals, diseases, etc.
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