A, an and the

Hi everyone,

I notice that a, an and the, called Articles in English Grammar, give all of you a lot of trouble. It is often unclear how they are used in English which makes it difficult for a learner. Here is a general guideline:

a is used in words that begin with a consonant: a book, a car, a house
an is used in words that begin with a vowel sound: an apple, an elephant, an orange.

This is not always true. One says a university, not an university,etc. So sometimes it can be frustrating.

A and an are indirect articles. They introduce something to the reader that they haven't described before: I went to a movie. I saw an elephant.

If one is talking about a known thing, one uses the: I fed peanuts to the Elephant. It is a particular elephant. The elephant. If we say an elephant we are talking about any old elephant. Without an article, elephants is a very general, and is talking about all elephants. The is a particular one. An elephant is one of the general elephants.

Practice this with words like book, school, etc.

I saw a school. The school is large. School is where I learn.

If this isn't clear write me and I will try to do a better job of explaining it.

Sue