Posts By Email
Grab The RSSEnglish Grammar 101: Articles
The words a, an, and the are generally called articles and sometimes classed as a separate part of speech. In function, however, they can be grouped with the demonstrative adjectives that are used to point things out rather than describe them.
Definite Article
The is called the definite article because it points out a particular object or class.
This is the book I was talking about.
The dodo bird is extinct.
Indefinite Article
A is called the indefinite article because it points out an object, but not any particular specimen.
a book, a dog, a lawn mower
The indefinite article has two forms:
A is used before words beginning with a consonant sound or an aspirated h:
a car, a lamb, a hope, a habit, a hotel
An is used before words beginning with a vowel sound:
an ape, an image, an untruth, an honorable man
Related Articles
Share
Join Over 50,000 Email Subscribers and Get a Free eBook!
- Subscribe to DailyWritingTips.com via email and you'll be able to download our ebook, "Basic English Grammar."
- You will also get all our writing tips delivered to your email inbox, completely free!
- The download link will go along with the first email (you might need to wait up to 24 hours).
7 Responses to “English Grammar 101: Articles”
Have something to say?
Popular Articles
- 40 Yiddish Words You Should Know
- 10 Rules for Writing Numbers
- Vocabulary Test 1
- Passed vs Past
- Writing a Reference Letter
- Creative Writing 101
- 44 Resume Writing Tips
- Among vs. Amongst
- 6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know
- Let the Word Do the Work
- How to Format a US Business Letter
- That vs. Which
- 50 Incorrect Pronunciations To Avoid
- The Writing Process
- Inquire vs. Enquire
- 25 Pieces of Writing Software
- 12 Greek Words You Should Know
- Cannot or Can Not?
- What Does Sic Mean?
- 100 Small But Expressive Interjections
- Wether, Weather, Whether
- 34 Writing Tips To Write Better
- Yours Faithfully or Yours Sincerely?
- Latin Words and Expressions
- Grammar Test 1
- Program vs. Programme
- Writing Prompts 101
- 7 Essay Writing Tips To Ace Your Exam
- What Is Irony? (With Examples)
- 100 Beautiful and Ugly Words
- 7 Grammatical Errors That Aren't
When do we use “in” “on” in citing dates.
Thanks
I want to improve my english
hi, jovie!
we use “on” when followed by a complete date: i was born on august 1, 1980.
we use “in” when followed by an incomplete one: pope john paul II visited manila in january 1995.
i hope this helps!
The given “explanation” of articles is so inaccurate as to be harmful for students of English. The examples are all correct sentences and usages, but the reason for the choice of article has little to do with specificity or particularity. To wit: We say, “I’m going to the store” even when the speaker is unsure of which store, and we say, “This is a ____” to introduce a specific item (one that we are holding, for example). The truth about articles is much more complicated than the erroneous “general and specific” explanation. Check out the article chapter in The Grammar Book by Larsen-Freeman and Celce-Murcia for some insight.
I like learning English. Yet, I sometimes get difficulty and confused to understand how to use the correct preposition, especially when I have to use “of, from, by, to, etc”. I need your help to fix my comprehension. Thank you
I would like to know as how to understand the letter is silent in the word . i have asked many trainers but got no reply. pls help me in.
i want to improve on my writing skills……..how can i do that????