ARTICLES

What is an article?

Basically, articles are either definite or indefinite. They combine to a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.

                     The definite article is the.

The indefinite article is a / an.

The indefinite article. A  OR AN :

The article a / an is used when we don't specify the things or people we are talking about:

·         I met a friend.

·         I work in a factory in New York.

·         I borrowed a pencil from a passenger sitting next to me.

The indefinite article a is used before a consonant sound:

·         a dog.

·         a pilot

·         a teacher.

·         a university

NOTE:
Although 'university' starts with the vowel 'u', it is not pronounced as such. It is pronounced as a consonant sound /ju:.niv3:.si.ti/

The indefinite article an is used before a vowel sound:

·         an engineer.

·         an elephant.

·         an athlete

The definite article.  THE :

It's used when the speaker talks about a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know.

·         The car over there is fast.

·         The president of the United States is giving a speech tonight.

When we speak of something or someone for the first time we use a or an, the next time we repeat that object we use the definite article the.

·         I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.

·         I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good