Introduction

An article is a word that comes before a noun to show if it’s specific or general. Specific nouns use the article the and general nouns use the article a (or an if the next word starts with a vowel sound).

What is an example of an article in grammar?#

“The hammer” refers to only one hammer, but “a hammer” refers to any hammer.

When should we not use articles?#

You don’t use articles with uncountable nouns or possessive pronouns. Certain nouns such as nationalities, school subjects, and sports don’t need articles, especially if they refer to abstract ideas.

What are definite and indefinite articles?#

Definite and indefinite articles refer to whether they describe something specific or general. The is the definite article and a and an are indefinite articles.

For the purposes of understanding how articles are used, it is important to know that nouns can be either count (can be counted) or noncount (indefinite in quantity and cannot be counted). In addition, count nouns are either singular (one) or plural (more than one). Noncount nouns are always in singular form.

For example, if we are speaking of water that has been spilled on the table, there can be one drop (singular) or two or more drops (plural) of water on the table. The word drop in this example is a count noun because we can count the number of drops. Therefore, according to the rules applying to count nouns, the word drop would use the articles a or the.

However, if we are speaking of water in general spilled on the table, it would not be appropriate to count one water or two waters — there would simply be water on the table. Water is a noncount noun. Therefore, according to the rules applying to noncount nouns, the word water would use no article or the, but not a.

References#

Definite and Indefinite Articles (a, an, the). (n.d.). Butte College. http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/articles.html

Grammarly. (2021, January 14). Articles. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/articles/