Articles
The words a, an, and the, are special adjectives called articles. Articles are words that modify a noun or pronoun. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are called indefinite articles because they don’t indicate anyone or anything specific (a door, an elephant). ‘The’ is called a definite article because it names someone or something specific (the bus, the girl).
Example:
When will dinner be served? (dinner = the evening meal)
I'm going to a dinner for my friend's birthday. (a dinner = an evening meal held for some kind of event)
The dinner was delicious. (the dinner= a specific meal)
Rules to remember:
• Use ‘a’ and ‘an’ with singular nouns.
• Use ‘a’ if the next word starts with a consonant sound.
• Use ‘an’ if the next word starts with a vowel sound.
• Use ‘the’ with singular nouns that name a particular person, place, or thing. Also use 'the' before all plural nouns.
Article | Example Sentence | Explanation |
a | I went to a friend’s house after school. | The next word after “a” is friend. Friend starts with a consonant sound, therefore “a” would be the correct article to use. |
an | I wanted to see an elephant at the zoo. | The next word after “an” is elephant. Elephant starts with a vowel sound, therefore “an” would be the correct article to use. |
the | I banged my knee on the table. | The next word after “the” is table. Table is a singular noun (thing), therefore “the” would be the correct article to use. |
Practice Problems:
Articles Practice
Circle the article that best completes the sentence.
1. Last summer I taught (an, a) writing camp.
2. (A, The) students played games, wrote stories, learned new vocabulary, and presented their work to the rest of (a, the) class.
3. Samuel, (a, an) boy in the class, was (an, the) winner of (an, the) vocabulary war game.
4. (A, The) students also learned how to write directions.
5. They wrote (a, the) steps on how to draw (a, an) house.
6. Then (a, the) students each took turns following each other’s directions on how to draw (a, an) house.
7. Some of (the, a) houses looked funny because people forgot (a, the) step or two.
8. The best part of camp was when (a, the) students wrote and shared their stories.
9. One student wrote a story about (an, a) elephant who liked to eat bananas.
10. Another student told (an, a) myth that explained why (an, the) sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
11. Overall, (a, the) students had fun.
12. It was (a, an) camp to remember!
Answer Key: