Articles – A, an, the

Articles are a, an, the. You need to use these articles before nouns and adjectives depending on various situations.

When to use A?

“A” means “one”. We use “A” before singular (single) nouns.

• She is a good girl.
• Mr Harry is a teacher.

Now, read the sentences below and say which sounds correct?

1. She is singer / She is a singer.
2. He is student / He is a student.

When to use An?

Basic Level

Just like “A”, “An” is also used before a singular noun that usually starts with a (apple), e (elephant), i (ink), o (orange, open) and u (umbrella, uncle).

• It is an apple.
• I saw an elephant.
• I have an important meeting.
• She has an orange tree.
• I bought an umbrella yesterday.

Advanced Level

If the first letter of a singular noun (university, useful book, etc.) is a, e, i, o, u but sound other than aeiou, we use “a” instead of “an.”

• Her neighbor is a European.
• She studies in a university.

When to use The?

• Before “first, second, third, last, previous, next,” etc. (This is the first question).
• Before any noun (name) that you have already mentioned earlier. (The girl you are talking about is my sister).
• Before body parts (The eye is the light of the body).
• Before planets and stars (The sun, the moon, the earth).

Where not to use an article?

• Before some kind of pronouns (my, our, your, their, his, her, its).