I can see a bird

Article: indefinite

 

Articles are small words used to show whether a noun they precede has a general or specific meaning. We use articles before most nouns.

 

There are three types of articles:

  1. Indefinite: ‘a/an’
  2. Definite: ‘the’
  3. Zero: no article

 

Got it

 

 

A/An


 

We use the indefinite article – ‘a/an’ – mostly with countable nouns to talk about general things. If the noun refers to one of many of its kind or is non-specific, we use the indefinite article.

  •  Mary is a teacher. (Profession in general meaning)
  •  Peter works in an office. (General type of workplace, not a specific office)
  •  Is there a school in your village? (School in general, not a particular school)

 

Note: We use ‘a’ before words that begin with a consonant (with a few exceptions):

  • a tree, a ball, a pupil, a dog

We use ‘an’ before words that begin with a vowel or vowel sound:

  • an apple, an engineer, an hour (vowel sound), an honour (vowel sound)

 

Basically, we use ‘a/an’ in the following ways:

 

1) to talk about a general thing among many of its type:

  •  I’m planning to buy a car next month. (type and make of that car are not known)
  •  Jane would like to have a pet. (not specific)
  •  Is there a bank near here?

 

2) to talk about jobs and occupations:

  •  Mary is a student and Tom is a teacher.
  •  Shakespeare was a writer.
  •  When I grow up, I want to become a doctor.

 

3) with singular countable nouns to talk about only one person or one thing:

  •  Juliette has a brother.
  •  Do you want a piece of cake?
  •  A cat plays with a ball.

 

4) to talk about something for the first time:

  •  I bought a new pen for you, Charlie. Don’t forget to put the pen* into your school bag.

*When we mention the pen again, we use the definite article the.

 

5) in certain structures such as ‘this is/that is’, ‘there is/there was’, ‘such a/what a’:

  •  This is an important meeting.
  •  What a tasty cake!
  •  He is such a nice man.

 

Some/Any

 

In positive statements with plural nouns, use ‘some’ instead of ‘a/an’.

  •  There are some books on the shelf.
  •  I see some runners crossing the street.

 

In questions and negative statements with plural nouns that are non-specific, we use ‘any’ instead of ‘some’:

  •  Are there any cafes in your town?
  •  Are there any places of interest on this street?
  •  There aren’t any leaves left on the tree.
  •  On Mondays there aren’t any visitors in our museum.