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The uses of ‘a’/‘an’ and

‘the’

‘a’/‘an’ and ‘the’The words a/an and the are "articles". We divide them into "indefinite" and "definite" like this:

We use "indefinite" to mean not sure, not certain. "Indefinite" is general.

When we are talking about one thing in general, we use a or an.

When we are talking about one thing in particular, we use the.

indefinite articles

definite article

aan

the

Of course, often we can use a/an or the for the same word. It depends on the situation, not the word.

Look at these examples:

Example 1:We want to buy an umbrella. (Any umbrella, not a particular umbrella.)

Example 2:Where is the umbrella? (We already have an umbrella. We are looking for our umbrella, a particular umbrella.)

Definitions:

1- a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants

a + singular noun beginning with a consonant:Example: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog2- an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a

number of the same objects) with vowels (a, e, I, o, u) or unvoiced consonant.

an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: Example: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan3- the = definite article (a specific object that both the person

speaking and the listener know) that is identified as particular item(s).

Example: "The dog that bit me ran away." Here, we're talking about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.

‘a’ and ‘an’The form ‘a’ is used before consonant sounds and the form ‘an’ is used before vowel sounds.

Example 1: a horse / a unit / a girlExample 2: an hour / an apple / an umbrella

‘a’ and ‘an’ is used before countable or singular noun referring to people or things that have already mentioned.

Example 1: I can see a bird in the sky.Example 2: Mrs Amini is a clerk.

‘a’ and ‘an’ are used before countable nouns when these have an adjective in front of them, or phrase following them.

Example 1: He has a good knowledge of Spanish.

Example 2: Mrs Jordan is a respectful person.

‘a’ and ‘an’ are used to show that sb/sth is member of a group or profession.

Example: Smiths’ new car is a BMW.

‘a’ and ‘an’ is used instead of one before some numbers.

Example: A thousand people were killed in the earthquake.‘a’ and ‘an’ is used before the names of days of the week to talk about one particular day.

Example: I saw him on a Wednesday.

We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ to classify people,

animals, plants, …Example: an elephant is a big animal.

We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ with origins, occupations, religions, and politics

Example 1: Sarah is a dentist. Example 2: Amir is an Iranian.Example 3: Mr Alavi is a socialist.

We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ before a non-specific

proper noun when he/she is unknown to us.(to show that the speaker does not know the person)

Example: I am looking for a Miss Taheri.

We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ before measurements.Example: Ali studies English twice a week.

‘the’ ‘the’ is used to show that you are talking about a particular

thing or person (singular, plural, or uncountable) that has already been mentioned, is already known about, or is the one.

Example: I ordered a pizza and a salad. The pizza was nice and the salad was disgusting.

‘the’ is used to refer sb/sth that is the only, normal and obvious one of their kind.

Example: the Nile/ the Quran/ the Pacific ocean/ the Alps ‘the’ is used to refer to o thing in general rather than a

particular thing.Example 1: The dolphin is an intelligent animal.Example 2: I am usually out during the day.

‘the’ is used with adjectives to refer to a thing or group of people described by the adjective.

Example : the unemployed / the elderly ‘the’ is used before the plural of somebody ’s last

name, refer to whole family, or married couple.Example : Do not forget to invite the Jordans. ‘the’ is used with unit of measurement to mean

“every”.Example : My car does 40 miles to the gallon. ‘the’ is used with a unit of time to mean the

“present”.Example : why do not have the dish of the day?

‘the’ is used to show that two things change to the same degree.

Example 1: The less you talked about this matter, the more depressed she became.

Example 2: The more I play volley ball, the happier I will be. ‘the’ is used with the superlative form of comparison.

Example: The city hall is the tallest building in town. the’ is used with the word university or college comes

before the name.

Example 1: My brother is studying at the university of California.

Example 2: My friend graduated from Tehran university.

the’ is used with the words “past”, “present”, and “future” but not with the words “present time”, “past times”, and “future times”.

Example 1: Ali has worked with the same firm from the time he was twenty to the present.

Example 2: Undoubtedly there will be exciting new inventions in future times.

the’ is used before an “of-phrase”.Example: the leaves of trees in Autumn. the’ is used with names of some countries.Example: the UAE/ the United Kingdom/ the Islamic

Republic of Iran

Geographical use of the

There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.

Do not use ‘the’ before: names of most countries/territories: Example: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the

Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States

names of cities, towns, or states:Example: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami

names of streets:Example: Washington Blvd., Main St.

names of lakes and bays: Example: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of

lakes like the Great Lakes names of mountains: Example: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of

mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn

names of continentsExample: Asia, Europe names of islands Example: Easter Island, Maui, Key West except with island

chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands

Do use ‘the’ before: names of rivers, oceans and seas: Example: the Nile, the Pacific points on the globe: Example: the Equator, the North Pole geographical areas: Example: the Middle East, the West deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: Example: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black

Forest, the Iberian Peninsula

REFERENCES:

Bagheri, Mohamad Sadegh.(2011), Grammar Booster, Shiraz

Anderson, Trudy.(1950), English grammar digest

Oxford, advanced learner dictionary Longman, advanced learner

dictionary

WEB SITES:

www.englishclub.com www.esl.about.com www.owl.english.purdue.edu