Page 37 - New Grammar with a Smile 4

The words a, an and the are called articles. We use them before nouns to indicate
whether they are general or specific. A and an are called indefinite articles. The is
called the definite article.

Let us now study the use of articles.

We use a or an
Note
1. when we are talking about something in
general and not specific. For example, • We use a before words that begin
with a consonant sound and also
y I need a new phone. before words that begin with a

y I need an umbrella. vowel but produce a consonant
sound. For example, a river, a book,
y Mark wants a bicycle for his birthday. a European, a unicorn.

2. when we are talking about something which • We use an before words that
is new, and are introducing it for the first begin with a vowel sound and also

time to the listener. before words that begin with a
y I have a bicycle. silent h. For example, an ice cream,
an umbrella, an hour.
y I have bought a new dress.

3. before words that mean a collection of things. For example, a gallon, a dozen.

We use the

1. before nouns that are unique. For example,

y The sun is bright today.
y The Bible is a holy book.

y The Pacific is the deepest ocean.

2. when talking about something that is known to the listener. For example,

y Do you know where the keys are?
y Put on the dress that Mom gave you.

3. to refer to a time period. For example,

y This song was popular in the 1990s.

y In the past, we did not have electricity.

4. Before names of rivers, oceans, seas, mountain ranges, countries with plural names
or those that contain the words republic, kingdom or states. For example,

y the Nile y the Arabian Sea y the Netherlands
y the Indian Ocean y the Alps y the United Kingdom

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